The Metropolitan Golf Association and Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association have announced the six men and four women selected to represent the Met Area in the 13th French American Challenge scheduled for October 20-21 at the Plainfield Country Club in Plainfield NJ.  The event is presented by luxury watchmaker Baume & Mercier.

Leading the MGA contingent will be 2004 MGA Jerry Courville Sr. Points Leader Pete Meurer of Silver Lake, winner of the 2004 Richardson Memorial and New York City Amateur and playing captain Allan Small of Fairmount CC, the reigning New Jersey State Amateur champion and a veteran of both the French and Irish (Carey Cup) international matches.  Their teammates include, 2003 Met Amateur champion Michael Stamberger of the host club, Plainfield, and recent winner of the Bergen County Amateur, 2004 Westchester Amateur Champion, Michael Reardon of Tuxedo, 2004 Long Island Amateur champion Sean Hartman of Indian Hills and Tom Yellin of The Stanwich Club.

The women’s team will be led by captain Sue DeKalb of Bamm Hollow, winner of the 2004 GSWGA Championship, and will include fifteen-year-old  phenom Megan Grehan of Wykagyl who competed in both the 2004 US Women’s Amateur and US Women’s Open, veteran Gail Flanagan of Westchester, the reigning WMGA Stroke Play Champion and two-time (2002-2003) WMGA Player of the Year Adrienne MacLean  of Montclair, who also competed on the 2002 French American team.

The format for the Matches will be similar to The Walker Cup and consists of Four-Ball, and Foursome Matches on October 20th,  followed by Singles Matches on Thursday, October 21st.  Scoring is done on a point basis and the winner awarded the magnificent trophy donated by founder Henri Samuel, two mounted gold and silver clocks set to Paris and New York time.

The formidable French Team consists of Marie Arnoux, Morgane Bazin de Jessey, Perrine Petit, Mireille Scalabre, Adrien Bernadet, Jean-Brice Boivin, Edouard More, Jean-Jacques Wolff, Laurent Poncelet, and Victor Riu.    

Formerly known as FRED’S CUP, the bi-annual competition between the MGA/WMGA and the Ligue de Paris was created in 1990 by Paris-based jeweler Fred Joaillier to foster sportsmanship and goodwill between the two nations.  The event alternates every other year between the Met Area and Paris and is traditionally held at some of the respective area’s finest courses including Baltusrol, Sleepy Hollow, Mountain Ridge, The Creek and Atlantic in the US, and Racing Club de France, St. Germain, St. Cloud, St. Nom de la Breteche and Joyenval in Paris.  The Matches will be hosted by Plainfield CC, a challenging Donald Ross masterpiece and that has been host to the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s  Open.

The schedule for the week will also include an AM-AM competition on Tuesday, October 19^th  which pairs each of the 20 players from both associations with a corporate threesome in a Best Ball of Four competition

“Without a doubt,” notes Tournament Director Gene Westmoreland, “this is one of the highlights of the tournament season and has added a whole new dimension to the MGA’s overall tournament program.” 

WMGA President Gerri Scarpa concurs, adding “players are positioning for a spot on this team as early as April. It has become one of the most coveted rewards for outstanding play throughout a season.”

Traditionally visiting players players arrive several days prior to the start of the competition and enjoy a week of social activities, including golf at several Met Area courses, a welcoming reception in New York City and a team dinner.  “This aspect of the competition,” says Tournament Coordinator Jeanne McCooey, “is what makes this event so special.  This is where the ‘camaraderie’ develops.  As a result, the competition becomes more fun every year because it also represents a reunion of old friends.”

Friendships aside, when the competition gets going the players are all business, and in the past the Parisians have proved to be formidable opponents.  The MGA/WMGA team has recorded only one win and one tie in the eight years of the event and is looking forward to another chance to claim victory in 2004.  Mr. Mottola notes, “Plainfield should be the perfect site for the 2004 matches.  Not only will they be a gracious and elegant host in keeping with the tradition of this event, but will also provide an outstanding test of golf for this group of highly competitive players. There are sure to be some great matches and we hope lots of people will come out to help us cheer our Met Area players on to a victory.”