75th MGA Public Links Heads to Bethpage State Park

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (June 21, 2023) -- On Thursday, nearly 60 of the Met Area's top public players head to Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the 75th MGA Public Links Championship. Though the event is headed to a familiar site, it will crown a champion for the first time ever on the Red Course.

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Bethpage Black has hosted the championship eight times, sharing the record with Spook Rock Golf Course in Suffern, N.Y., but the Red Course will provide just as stern of a test for the players, demanding distance, accuracy and a strong short game to score well.

"I love 16-17-18," says Bethpage Director of Golf Kelley Brooke of the Red Course's closing stretch. "I love the fact that it's a long course. You have to hit it in the fairway."

A trio of past MGA champions in reigning champion Peicheng Chen of Rock Hill, two-time past champion Jonathan Jeter of Nassau Players and past MGA/MetLife Boys' and Ike winner Matt Lowe of Bethpage. Chen claimed his title last year at Rock Spring Golf Club in East Orange, N.J., holding off a late charge from Jeter down the stretch. Meanwhile, Lowe has had several top finishes already this season, placing second in the New York City Amateur, fourth in the Mittelmark Invitational and advancing to the quarterfinals of the early season Havemeyer Invitational.

There will be plenty of local knowledge in the field, with 13 players representing either Bethpage or Nassau Players Club, whose members play predominantly at the public facility.

Additional proven winners in the field include three-time Westchester Mid-Amateur champion Patrick Pierson of New York Country Club and two-time Westchester Public Links champion Erik Stauderman of Casperkill.

The 36-hole championship begins at 7:30 a.m., Thursday, with round two taking place in the afternoon.