JERICHO, N.Y. (August 13, 2007) - The 92nd Met Open Championship, sponsored for the 28th consecutive year by MetLife, is scheduled for August 21 through 23 at The Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, N.Y. This year marks the second time the Met Open will be contested at Meadow Brook, thirty years since Marty Bohen of Spook Rock won his second consecutive Met Open titles on the famed Dick Wilson-designed course. Meadow Brook has been the site for dozens of prestigious local and national championships over the past several decades, and this year’s Met Open will add another chapter to the club’s storied history.

In last year’s Met Open, held at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, Trump National-Westchester professional John Guyton captured the title after winning a three-hole aggregate score playoff over Rick Hartmann of Atlantic.

The Met Open was played for the first time in 1905 at the now-defunct Fox Hills Golf Club on Staten Island and for 35 years was a stop on the PGA Tour and won by the likes of Alex Smith, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Johnny Farrell, Byron Nelson, Paul Runyan, and Craig Wood, all legendary names in professional golf. Following a eight-year hiatus after World War II, it became the nation’s premier regional championship with winners such as Claude Harmon, George Zahringer, David Glenz, Miller Barber, Darrell Kestner and Johnson Wagner.

Eligible to compete in the Met Open are members of the Metropolitan and New Jersey sections of the PGA, professionals at MGA member clubs, and amateurs at MGA member clubs with a USGA Handicap Index of 4.0 or less. The 54-hole stroke play event will feature a starting field of 145 players (104 pros and 41 amateurs), pared down from a total entry of 811, which will be cut to 60 (plus ties) after the second round. The professionals will play for a record purse of $150,000, with $27,500 going to the winner. The championship will be preceded on Monday, August 20 by the 39th MGA/MetLife Caddie Scholarship Pro-Am.

Guyton and Hartmann will be challenged by an outstanding array of talented professionals from across the Met Area. Among the familiar names is Andrew Svoboda of Winged Foot, who turned professional in 2004 after winning the Met Open in 2003 and the Met Amateur in 2004. Svoboda comes into the championship with considerable momentum, having won the New York State Open at Bethpage Black in July. Other top professionals to watch include 2007 NJPGA Charity Clambake champion Frank Esposito of Brooklake; 2007 Met PGA Head Pro champion Carl Alexander of GC of Purchase; 2007 Met PGA Professional champion Greg Bisconti of Saint Andrew’s, who also played in the 2007 PGA Championship; 2006 PGA National Professional champion Ron Philo of Hudson National; LIPGA champ Ron Faria of Atlantic; 2006 New York State Open titleholder Jimmy Hazenof St. George’s, and 2007 Long Island Open winner Abbie Valentine of Bethpage. Previous Met Open winners Bill Britton (1979), Mark Brown (1999), Mike Burke Jr.(1997), Mike Diffley (1991), Mike Gilmore (2000), David Glenz (1978 & ’86), Darrell Kestner (1995, 1983, 1982), Mark Mielke (1992), and Bruce Zabriski (1993) all will be on hand to try adding another Met Open title to their resumes.

On the amateur side, 2007 New Jersey State Open champion Brian Komline of Rolling Greens is among the strongest contenders, along with 2007Met Amateur champion Greg Rohlf of Winged Foot and Met Amateur semifinalist Kevin Foley of Neshanic Valley (N.J.), who as a member of the Penn State golf team was the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Other amateurs to watch include 2005 Ike champion Andrew Giuliani of Van Cortlandt Park and Brown University junior Larry Haertel Jr. of Greenwich. Representing the host club will be head professional Rick Meskell and amateur Chase Coleman.

Meadow Brook, which was also the site of three Met Amateurs (1947, ’60 and ’87) and two Ike Championships (1997 and 2003), is one of only a handful of clubs to have hosted all three MGA major championships. The club also hosted the Champions Tour’s Lightpath Long Island Classic (now the Commerce Bank Championship played at Eisenhower Park) from 1988-2002 and the LPGA Tour’s Western Union International from 1979-1982.

Long considered among the area’s top layouts, the Dick Wilson-designed course will play to a par 71 at 7,128 yards. The MGA will reverse Meadow Brook’s nines with the par-three ninth hole to serve as an exciting finishing hole for the championship. Characterized by its many doglegs and sprawling greens, the outstanding field and demanding course will make for a thrilling week of competition at the 92nd Met Open Championship.

Live scoring updates will be available on the MGA Web site, www.mgagolf.org, and full results will be sent out at the conclusion of play on both days. For more information on this year’s championship contact Greg Midland (gmidland@mgagolf.org) or Gene Westmoreland (gwestmore@mgagolf.org) at the MGA, (914) 347-4653.

 

PARINGS AND STARTING TIMES

 

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