ELMSFORD, N.Y. (February 13, 2009) — For more than a century, the Metropolitan Golf Association has set the highest standards for its championships, and 2009 promises to be another banner year for players and fans. Three of the association’s major events — the Ike Championship presented by Canon; the historic Met Amateur; and the Met Open sponsored by MetLife — will be contested on three of the most outstanding courses in the Met Area. The Ike will visit Nassau Country Club on Long Island, the Amateur will be held at Hackensack Golf Club and the Open at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey.

During the 2009 season, the MGA will conduct a total of 31 qualifying rounds for its 17 championships as well as 18 qualifying rounds for USGA championships, including the much-anticipated U.S. Open sectional qualifying round on June 8th at Old Oaks and Century Country Clubs in Purchase, N.Y., prior to the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. For the 29th consecutive year, the MGA welcomes MetLife as a sponsor of eight MGA events and the Calendar of Competitions. Canon returns for a seventh year as sponsor of two MGA championships, the Ike and Senior Open. The support of our sponsors allows the MGA tournament program maintain its stellar reputation across the country.

In addition to the exciting MGA championship schedule, coverage of the top Met Area and national events is provided on the Association Web site, www.mgagolf.org. Visit the site all season for the latest golf news, results for Met Area championships, full-field scoring for all MGA and USGA sectional qualifying rounds and live scoring for all MGA major championships. The Web site will also feature complete coverage of the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in June. A complete rundown of the schedule follows:

May

The MGA season begins with the Governor Hugh L. Carey Challenge Cup Matches on May 5 and 6. A six-man amateur team from the Met Area will travel to Ireland to take on a similar team from the Golfing Union of Ireland in a Walker Cup-style competition featuring foursome, four-ball and singles matches. The Met Area’s top senior amateur players begin their season at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J., for the 82nd MGA Senior Amateur Championship on May 4-5. The Senior Net Four-Ball Tournament follows on May 11 at Salem Golf Club in North Salem, N.Y.

June
 

More than a month passes before the next MGA championship on the schedule, but players in the Met Area will be busy as the Association conducts 28 sectional qualifying rounds for both MGA and USGA events. On June 30, the season shifts into high gear for the first major championship of 2009—the 54th Ike-MGA Stroke Play Championship. Sponsored for the seventh consecutive year by Canon, the Ike will be played at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y. The final field will compete in the first round on June 30, after which the field will be cut to the low 40 (plus ties). The final two rounds of the 54-hole event will be played on July 1 to decide the individual and team champions. Defending champion Kevin Foley of Neshanic Valley, a standout player on the Penn State University golf team, will look to defend his title against the Met Area’s best amateurs.

July

July begins with the one-day, 36-hole MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship on July 7 at the Links at Shirley in Shirley, N.Y. The Public Links is followed by the very popular MGA/MetLife Men’s Net Team Championship, often referred to as “the Met Net,” which will take place on July 8 at Hempstead Country Club in Hempstead, N.Y. On July 9, the top women public golfers visit Patriot Hills Golf Club in Stony Point, N.Y., for the 12th WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship. 

The nation’s oldest junior championship, the Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife, will be played at Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., on July 15-17. It will be preceded on July 14 by the MGA/MetLife Pro-Junior Tournament. The Met Junior often provides a preview of future contenders in the region’s top amateur events. One of last year’s semifinalists, Cameron Wilson of Shorehaven, was the low amateur at the Met Open one month later.

August
 

The busy month of August begins with the seventh playing of the Carter Cup—MGA Junior Stroke Play Championship on August 5 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. The following day, the action shifts up the Garden State Parkway to Hackensack Golf Club in Oradell, N.J., for the 107th Met Amateur Championship. The championship runs from Thursday, August 6 through Sunday, August 9. The 36-hole stroke-play qualifying on the first day will determine the 16 golfers who will advance to the match-play portion. After two days of match play, the final match will be played over 36 holes. The demanding format of the Met Amateur always yields a deserving champion.

On August 12, four of the top junior players in the Met Area will play in the Williamson Cup Matches at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. The Williamson Cup is an annual competition that features teams of the best junior players from golf associations around the United States and Canada. The MGA/MetLife Boys Championship will return to Gardiner’s Bay Country Club in Shelter Island Heights, N.Y., on August 13-14. This will mark the ninth time that Gardiner’s Bay has hosted the Boys, which is open to young men not yet 16 years of age. Three days later, on August 17, the MGA Father & Son Championship will be played at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Conn. The Father & Son Championship is followed the next day by the always popular Father & Son (Net) Tournament at Glen Ridge Country Club in Glen Ridge, N.J.

On August 25-27, the Met Area’s top professionals and leading amateurs will vie for the Met Open title at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. This will be the third Met Open hosted by Ridgewood, which also hosted the 1935 Ryder Cup, the 1990 U.S. Senior Open and the third leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs in 2008. Sponsored by MetLife for the 29th year, the players will compete for the $150,000 purse. The Met Open will be preceded on August 24 by the MGA/MetLife Caddie Scholarship Pro-Am, with proceeds going to support the Caddie Scholarship Funds of the Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester Golf Associations.

September/October         

Following on the heels of the Met Open is the MGA Senior Open at the Woodmere Club in Woodmere, N.Y., on September 2-3. Sponsored by Canon for the seventh consecutive year, the field of senior professionals and amateurs (age 50 and up) will compete over 36 holes for a purse of $30,000. The Senior Open, won by Bobby Heins of Old Oaks Country Club last year, has quickly become one of the most competitive events on the schedule in just 12 years of existence.

The MGA Mixed Pinehurst Championship will be played on September 17 at the Round Hill Club in Greenwich, Conn. Less than two weeks later, the final individual event of the season, the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship, will be played at The Creek on September 29 and 30. The leading mid-amateurs (age 35 and older) will compete for the Westmoreland Cup, named after MGA Senior Director of Rules and Competitions Gene Westmoreland. Eligibility for the Mid-Amateur is based on performance in specific MGA and Met Area events throughout the season. The final championship of the season will be the MGA/MetLife Women’s Net Team Championship, which will be played October 1 at Pelham Country Club in Pelham Manor, N.Y.

Online Registration for all MGA Championships is now available. Full-field scoring will be available for MGA and USGA sectional qualifying rounds. Live scoring will be provided for MGA major championships.

For more information please contact Brian Mahoney or Bob Nielsen of the MGA at (914) 347-4653 or via e-mail: bmahoney@mgagolf.org or bnielsen@mgagolf.org.