ELMSFORD, N.Y. (June 19, 2007) – Defending champion Roger Hoit has his sights set on becoming the first repeat Ike champion in seven years, but there are 107 other players, including three former champions, who will have different ideas for the 43-year-old Baltusrol member when the Ike Championship, presented by Canon, USA, begins on June 25 at Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

This is the 52nd playing of the Ike, and the first time the event has been held at Fenway.Designed by A.W. Tillinghast in 1921, Fenway is a classic layout that was ranked Number 36 in the Met Area in the April/May issue of The Met Golfer. The 54-hole stroke play championship includes 18 holes on Monday, after which a cut will be made to the low 40 players and ties who will return to Fenway for 36 holes on Tuesday, June 26. Any two or more players from the same club who make the cut are also entered in the Ike Team Championship.

Hoit will be challenged by one of the strongest Ike fields in recent memory. A group that includes 2006 Met Amateur champion Tommy McDonagh of Shorehaven; U.S. Mid-Amateur winner and four-time Ike champion George Zahringer of Deepdale and Van Cortlandt Park’s Andrew Giuliani, the 2005 Ike champion and 2006 MGA Player of the Year. Giuliani, a member of the Duke University golf team, also heads a strong contingent of collegiate players, including Brown University senior Larry Haertel Jr.of Greenwich, the 2007 New England Championship winner, and 2006 Met Amateur runner-up Kevin Foley of Neshanic Valley, who was named the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year while at Penn State University. Morgan Hoffmann of Arcola, one of the country’s top junior players, is also in the field.

A number of well-accomplished local amateurs come into the 2007 Ike Championship on a hot streak. Among them is Adam Fuchs of Hamlet Windwatch, who started off the season with victories at the Havemeyer and Richardson Invitationals and is seeking his first MGA title. Joseph Saladino, fresh off his win at the LIGA Amateur on June 15, tied for second in last year’s Ike and is also seeking his first MGA title.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur was won by George Zahringer in 2002 and Ken Bakst in 1997, and this prominent duo leads an impressive group of over-40 golfers that features some of the Met Area’s most accomplished champions. Zahringer will look to add a fifth Ike Championship and 11th MGA title to his already outstanding playing record. Other veteran contenders will be 2006 NJSGA Player of the Year Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge, who won the MGA Senior Amateur in May; Ron Vannelli of Metuchen, the 2005 MGA Player of the Year; and 2006 NJSGA Mid-Amateur champion Allan Small of Fairmount.

Representing the host club are David Weisfeld and Jason Monroe, who will look to use home course knowledge to their advantage. 

The Ike Championship was conceived in 1953 by F.M. Flynn, publisher of the New York Daily News. It was nurtured through its early years by Daily News columnist Dana Mozley and his close friend, the late George Sands, who was president of the MGA in 1974-1975 and a strong advocate of Met Area golf. Although the tournament was quite successful for nearly two decades, by the late 1970s the event faced an uncertain future and was not conducted in 1979, 1980 and 1985. The MGA acquired the rights to the Ike in 1986, and made the tournament its annual Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Now under the sponsorship of Canon, USA, for the fifth year, the Ike is in a position of stability and tremendous success, and remains one of the most coveted titles in the region.

Complete coverage of the Ike Championship will be available at www.mgagolf.org, where you can also find frequent scoring updates and Live Scoring for the third round provided by the USGA’s TPP Real Time scoring system.

 

For more information on the Ike Championship please contact Greg Midland at (914) 347-4653 or via e-mail at gmidland@mgagolf.org.

 

Pairings and Starting Times

 

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