2011 Season Preview
Elmsford, N.Y. – With the 2010 championship season complete, the MGA is beginning to turn its attention to 2011 and is pleased to announce some of the highlights of next year’s lineup of host clubs. Once again, MGA championships will be contested over some of the premier courses in the Met Area. Included in this mix are Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, N.Y., the Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, N.Y., Somerset Hills Golf Club in Bernardsville, N.J., Essex County Country Club in West Orange, N.J., and Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk, Conn.
Sleepy Hollow will play host to the 96th Met Open sponsored by MetLife from August 23 to 25. It will be the seventh different MGA championship to be held at the historic C.B. Macdonald layout. In the last few years, the club commissioned a restoration to bring back some of Macdonald’s original design elements, and this historic and scenic layout is sure to challenge the area’s top professional and amateur golfers.
From August 4-7, Piping Rock hosts the 109th Met Amateur Championship. Piping Rock last hosted an MGA championship in 2007, when Jay Blumenfeld won the MGA Senior Amateur. Eight years ago, the 2002 Met Amateur was played at the Long Island club and saw current PGA Tour player Johnson Wagner walk away with the title.
Somerset Hills hosts its first Ike Championship presented by Canon Business Solutions on June 27 & 28. The last MGA major at the A.W. Tillinghast design was the 2003 Met Amateur where Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake bested Mike Quagliano of GlenArbor in a 37-hole finale. A Tillinghast gem, Somerset Hills has also undergone a recent restoration that included the expansion of fescue grass.
Although it is the newest MGA championship, the Mid-Amateur has been played at some of the top courses in the area, and that does not change for 2011. When the 5th MGA Mid-Amateur comes to Essex County, Dennis Lynch of Nassau Players will be looking for his third straight title, and he has a great venue to attempt the feat. The 2004 and 2001 Father and Son Championships were played at Essex County, as well as the 1987 Ike. Established in 1888, Essex County is consistently ranked as one of the top courses in New Jersey.
One of the first events of the season, the MGA Senior Amateur visits Shorehaven Golf Club on May 9 and 10. Shorehaven, the home club of MGA major winners Jerry Courville Sr. and Jr., Tommy McDonagh and Cameron Wilson, will be hosting the Senior Amateur for the first time. The layout offers scenic views of Long Island Sound, and previous MGA championships held there include the 1992 Ike and 1999 Father and Son Championship.
Other clubs hosting MGA championships in 2011 include Rock Spring, Hominy Hill, Maplewood, Fairmount, Bethpage Red, Baltusrol, Lawrence, Rumson, Edgewood, Crestmont and Forest Hill Field.
The 2011 MGA schedule can be found by clicking here.
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