Championship Spotlight: Junior Events
The 19th Carter Cup returns to Baltusrol Golf Club this year. Photo: Evan Schiller
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (January 22, 2021) -- Junior golf and fostering competition among the region's rising competitors has long been an important aspect of the MGA. It's junior championships provide a glipse into the next generation of top competitors and each year provide some of the season's most exciting performances. Today the MGA Foundation, with its focus on junior golf, conducts the MGA's junior championships. Between the history of the events and the outstanding venues each year, there's no wonder why these championships are circled on the calendar of every junior golfer in the Met Area.
Related: More on the 2021 MGA Schedule
The Met Junior Championship Sponsored by MetLife stands as the nation's oldest junior championship, first taking place in 1912. Names on the unique, three-handled Mandeville Trophy include Frank Strafaci, Claude (Butch) Harmon, Jr., Bill Harmon, Greg Bisconti, Michael Miller and Cameron Young. This year, the historic championship's 104th playing heads to one of the MGA's most historic clubs, The Tuxedo Club, July 12-14. Amazingly, this will be the Club's first time hosting the Met Junior, but will be a record ninth different MGA championship hosted by the Club.
The 53rd MGA/MetLife Boys Championship returns to Gardiner's Bay Country Club on Shelter Island, July 22-23. The championship, open to boys not yet 16 years of age, often serves as these players' introduction to match play. It begins with 16 players, with two rounds of match play contested both days to decide a victor. Since 1987, Gardiner's Bay and Bedford Golf & Tennis Club have stood within the championship's yearly rotation to each MGA region, while Glen Ridge Country Club has recently stepped in as the New Jersey host.
Qualifying rounds for both the Met Junior and Boys championships take place concurrently, allowing those under 16 years of age to attempt to qualify for both events from the same round.
The MGA Carter Cup is the MGA's official junior stroke play championship. It honors and remembers Michael Carter, a junior club champion at both Baltusrol Golf Club and Winged Foot Golf Club, who passed away in a car accident in 2002. This year the 36-hole invitational returns to it's typical host, Baltusrol, on July 27.
Met Area juniors also have the opportunity to compete on the Williamson Cup. It squares off 10 northeast golf associations against each other in a 36-hole stroke play format. Four juniors represent each association, with the best three scores from each round counting toward the team's overall score. The event was established by A. Fred Williamson in memory of his father, one of the original founders of Winged Foot Golf Club and a long-time member of the USGA Executive Committee. After its first-ever cancellation in 2020, the Williamson Cup is slated to take place August 9-10 at Buffalo Country Club in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Long Island Golf Association and Westchester Golf Association also both have their own respective junior and boys' championships. Both associations contest their junior and boys' titles concurrently, while those dates also serve as qualifiers for the Met Junior Championship. This year, Long Island's Junior and Boys' championships take place June 21 at Smithtown Landing, while Westchester's will take place June 30 at Westchester Hills.