Strong Fields await for The Farrell
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (September 24, 2024) – Many top Met Area players and accomplished national competitors head to The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn., this weekend as the third playing of The Farrell takes place September 27-29.
Competitors in three divisions – Men’s Mid-Amateur, Women’s Mid-Amateur, and Men’s Senior – will compete over 18 holes of stroke play, with the top 16 finishers advancing to match play to determine a champion over the weekend.
Related: The Farrell History | Pairings
The Farrell, conducted by the MGA in partnership with The Stanwich Club, honors the legacy of longtime Stanwich head professional Billy Farrell. Farrell was Stanwich’s first-ever head professional and set a high standard in all aspects of the profession. He held the role from 1964 until 2000 and passed away in 2020 at the age of 85.
Farrell believed that a tournament should be highly competitive, be conducted in a professional manner, contain an elite field, and provide lifelong memories. While year two had to be shortened to an 18-hole stroke play competition, this year’s championship is already shaping up to stand as the most competitive year yet as fields continue to get stronger and stronger.
The Women’s Mid-Amateur division features a lengthy list of contenders, as 14 of the 30 competitors advanced to match play in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship earlier in the month. That includes locals such as inaugural Farrell champion Catherine McEvoy of Innis Arden and past U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Ina Kim-Schaad of Deepdale who this year advanced to the Round of 16, plus 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and semifinalist this year Lauren Greenlief of International Country Club (Va.), and four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Stasi of Tavistock (Fla.).
The list continues with upcoming French-American Challenge Met Area team members Pendleton Bogache of Deepdale and Christina Parsells of Somerset Hills, plus 2024 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur co-medalist and quarterfinalist Jacqueline Setas of the Golf Club of Tennessee and Round of 16 competitors Clare Connolly of Chevy Chase Club (Md.), and Valeria Mendizabal of the Golf Club of Tennessee.
The Men’s Mid-Amateur division features many of the region’s top competitors, including nine past MGA champions, such as multi-time winners Mark Costanza of Baltusrol, Garet Engel of The Seawane Club, Matthew Lowe of Bethpage, Trevor Randolph of Arcola, inaugural Farrell champion Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow, Pat Wilson of Hamilton Farm. Past MGA Player of the Year Darin Goldstein of Deepdale and U.S. Mid-Amateur match play competitor Christian Cavaliere of Hudson National are both in the field as well.
Defending champion Cody Paladino of Hartford Golf Club is back, and coming off a match play appearance in the U.S. Mid-Amateur. U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist Will Davenport of Pine Tree Golf Club (Fla.), who eliminated three-time champion Stewart Hagestad in the round of 32, is also set to compete.
The Senior Division also includes several MGA champions, including inaugurarl Farrell champion Ed Gibstein of Glen Head, four-time MGA champion Dennis Lynch of Baiting Hollow, and past MGA Senior Amateur champion Roddy McRae of Baltusrol. Reigning champion Mark McGowan of Saucon Valley (Pa.) aims to repeat, while last year’s trio of runner-ups Jim Strickland of Whisper Rock, Jay Sessa of Cherry Valley and Pat Pierson of New York Country Club are all back in the field again as well.
Stanwich hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2002 and is especially known for its fast, true greens. In the years since, the Club has welcomed the Palmer Cup and Wyndham Cup. It stands among 19 Met Area clubs that have hosted all three MGA majors—the Ike, Amateur and Open—hosting the Met Open in 1972 and 1996, the Ike in 1989 and the Met Amateur in 2004 and 2013.
The Farrell family has long been synonymous with golf in the Met Area. Billy was one of five children and grew up in in New Jersey; his father Johnny, the 1928 U.S. Open champion, was the Head Professional at Baltusrol Golf Club. While competing on tour, where he played in eight U.S. Opens and seven PGA Championships, Billy also worked as an assistant at Baltusrol. Billy and his wife Alvera had seven children; for 20 years, his son Bobby served as the Director of Golf at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Conn. The Farrells were named Golf Family of the Year in 1966 by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.
Follow full coverage of The Farrell on mgagolf.org and the MGA’s social media platforms.