ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 2, 2006) - The 2007 MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship,sponsored by MetLife, is scheduled to be played at Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Neshanic Station, N.J., on Friday, July 6th. An entry of 400 public links golfers have been pared, through five sectional qualifying rounds, to a final field of 54contestants, including nine exempt players, who will compete for the title.

This year’s event will be the 60th edition of a tournament that was first played in 1936 at the Hendricks Field Golf Course in Belleville, N.J., whose golfers were the driving force behind the championship’s creation. The MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship was not played between 1973 and 1983, but was reinstated by the MGA in 1984. Since then, and with the help of MetLife, it has been conducted on some of the most highly acclaimed public layouts in the nation including Bethpage Black, site of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, and nationally ranked facilities such as Richter Park in Danbury, Conn., and Hominy Hill in Colt's Neck, N.J.

With the departure of two-time defending champion Mark Farrell to the professional ranks, the championship is wide open for the rest of the field. All but nine of the entrants in this year's field earned their places via one of the five qualifying rounds, which were held throughout the Met Area in late June. Among the exempt players isAdam Fuchs of Hamlet Windwatch, who started the season with victories at the Richardson and Havemeyer Invitationals. Fuchs is also in the fifth place on the Jerry Courville Sr. MGA Player of the Year point list as of June 27th and is looking for his first MGA title.

Also exempt is 2005 NJSGA Open champion Brian Komline of Rolling Greens, who finished t-2nd in last year’s Public Links Championship at Spook Rock. The 2006 NJSGA Public Links champion, John Lovett of Charleston Springs, and Isaac Lim of Tamarack Golf Association, who finished t-2nd in 2006, are searching for their first MGA wins. Jorge Diaz of Neshanic Valley is the host club representative.

The championship is open to male golfers who reside in the MGA's district, have an official USGA Handicap Index of 8.0 or less and who do not hold playing privileges at a course from which the general public is excluded. The championship is conducted at 36 holes of stroke play, with the final 18-holes featuring real-time scoring provided by TPP which can be viewed on the MGA’s Web site, www.mgagolf.org.

 

For more information on the MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship, contact: Bob Nielsen or Gene Westmoreland at the MGA at (914) 347-4653 or visit our Web site atwww.mgagolf.org.

 

Pairings and Starting Times

 

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