The MGA Senior Open Championship, presented by Canon, USA, will be played this year at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, N.Y. on August 27 and 28. This will mark the 11th playing of this very popular event for the talented veteran competitors of the region.

The entry list this year included 176 golfers, all over fifty years of age, amateurs and professionals alike, representing Met Area clubs. The Senior Open once again will be contested at 36 holes of stroke play over two days. The field will play 18 holes on Monday, August 27, after which the field will be pared to the low 40 (plus ties) for the final 18 holes on Tuesday, August 28.  The winner will earn $6,000 from the $30,000 purse.

The make-up of the field for this event was dramatically enhanced in recet years by the influx of several very accomplished fifty-year-olds, headed by Darrell Kestner of Deepdale, a three-time Met Open champion, who won in his first year of eligibility in 2003 and again in 2005. Knickerbocker’s Ed Whitman edged Kestner in 2004 to finish a great season where he also won his fourth NJSGA Open title. Bill Britton of Twin Brooks Golf Center joined the ranks of Senior Open winners in 2006 when he claimed a three-stroke victory at Nassau Country Club. A former Met Open and two-time Met Amateur champion, Britton will be among the top contenders in the field again this year. Three other former champions, John Gentile of H. Smith Richardson (1997),Russell Helwig of Essex Fells (1998-’99) and Peter Famiano of Crestmont (2002), are in the field and are looking to add another Senior Open title to their already successful careers. They will be joined by two-time Met Open winner Bobby Heins of Old Oaks, who finished tied for ninth last year, and another two-time Met Open winner,Bruce Zabriski.

The amateur contingent could also play a significant role in the outcome of this year’s championship. They will be headed by 2007 MGA Senior Amateur champion Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge, who finished low amateur and tied for fifth and nine-time MGA Player of the Year George Zahringer of Deepdale, who notched a record twelfth MGA major victory at the Ike Championship in June. Zahringer was also tied for low amateur at the U.S. Senior Open in early July. Also in the field will be 2006 NJSGA Mid-Amateur champion Allan Small of Fairmount, two-time MGA Senior Amateur champion Steve Rose and 2005 Met Amateur champion and MGA Player of the YearRon Vannelli of Metuchen.

Metropolis Country Club will be well represented by former head professional Gene Borek, a three-time Met PGA Championship winner, and amateur Martin Gregge.

A venue as rich in history as Metroplis Country Club provides a great setting for the 2007 MGA Senior Open, presented by Canon USA. The elder statesmen of Met Area golf have an opportunity to play at a venue that has hosted four Met Opens and three Met Amateurs and the outstanding golf course should present a difficult test for the next Senior Open champion.