ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 28, 2009) – The 13th MGA Senior Open Championship presented by Canon will be played this year at the highly regarded Woodmere Club in Woodmere, New York, on September 2 and 3. Bobby Heins of Old Oaks, the 2008 champion, is set to defend his title against a large and talented field of the best Met Area professionals and amateurs 50 years of age and older.

A field of 176 golfers will start the 36-hole, stroke play event. Following the first round on Wednesday, September 2, the field will be cut to the low 40 and ties for the final round on Thursday, September 3. The professionals will compete for the winner’s share of $6,000 from the $30,000 purse.

The professional contingent is headlined by four recent winners of the event: Heins, Bruce Zabriski (2007), Darrell Kestner of Deepdale (2005 & ’03), and Edward Whitman (2004) of Knickerbocker. In addition, six-time MGA major champion and 2009 Met Open runner-up Jerry Courville Jr. of Shorehaven, who made the cut in this year’s U.S. Senior Open, will be looking for his first MGA title as a professional. Other notable professionals in the field include 1997 Met Open champion Mike Burke Jr. of Montammy and last year’s Senior Open runner-up, Rick Vershure of Quaker Ridge.  

Amateurs have been a large part of the MGA Senior Open field since its inception in 1996. While an amateur has never won the title, the 2009 amateur entrants have several top players who come into the championship as strong contenders. Among them is Jim Graham of Winged Foot, the low amateur in last year’s Senior Open at Hollywood Golf Club. The last two MGA Senior Amateur champions, Ron Vannelli of Metuchen and Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge, are also competing and will look to contend at Woodmere. Blumenfeld, along with MGA President Allan Small of Fairmount, qualified for this year’s U.S. Senior Amateur. Making his debut as a senior is 1994 Ike champion Ed Gibstein of Engineers, who has contended in several MGA majors and played on numerous MGA international teams, including the squad that traveled to Ireland this past May for the 2009 Carey Cup.

Two other notable players making their Senior Open debuts are Mike Diffley of Pelham, the 1991 Met Open champion, and Tom Patri of Friar’s Head, a teaching professional and Met Area native who won the 1976 Met Junior.  

Woodmere has been the site of one previous MGA Senior Open, held in 2002 and won by the late Peter Famiano of Crestmont, who set the record that year as the oldest MGA Senior Open champion at 57 years, 8 months. Woodmere has also hosted three Met Opens, in 1980, 1965, and 1959, when it was won by Jim Turnesa, the uncle of Jim Turnesa Sr. of Knollwood, who is in this year’s field. Representing the host club is Ed Burke, who is in the field and will rely on his local knowledge of the course for success.