Griffith E. Harris to Host 57th MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship
ELMSFORD, N.Y.-The 2004 MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship is scheduled to be played at “The Griff” otherwise known as Griffith E. Harris GC in Greenwich, CT, on Friday, July 23rd. An entry of 460 public links golfers have been pared, through five sectional qualifying rounds, to a final field of 59 contestants, including 12 exempt players, who will compete for the title.
This year’s event will be the 57th edition of a tournament that was first played in 1936 at the Hendricks Field Golf Course in Belleville, NJ, 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 U.S. Open, and nationally ranked facilities such as Richter Park in Danbury, CT, Hominy Hill in Colt's Neck, NJ, and Spook Rock in Suffern, NY.
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 Blue Golf which can be viewed on the MGA’s website, www.mgagolf.org.
All but twelve 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 are defending champion Ralph Alfieri, of Darlington, who beat a tremendous field at last year’s event. Also in the field are 2002 champion Peter Meurer of Silver Lake who has played extremely well all season having won the Richardson Memorial, and the Rockland and NYC Amateur Championships as well. Also in the field are recent MGA/MetLife Junior runner-up Sun Ho-Kim, Royce Brook’s Nick Desai, winner of two matches in last year’s U.S. Public Links, and three-time U.S. Amateur qualifier Harry Goett III of Ashbrook.
The Hudson Valley qualifier was held on June 17, at Phillip J. Rotella GC in Thiells, NY where eleven players qualified, led by Douglas Novogrodsky of Roundout, who shot a two-under 70.
This year’s Connecticut qualifier at Sterling Farms GC in Stamford, CT saw juniors Matthew Belizze and J.F. Sorbella qualify with one-under-par 71’s along with Jeffrey Teasdale, of Sterling Farms, to lead a group of eight qualifiers to the championship.
In the New Jersey qualifying at Sunset Valley GC in Pompton Plains, Albert Oh of Centennial fired an even par 70 to claim medalist honors and lead a group of eight qualifiers.
Brian McClure of Maple Moor shot a one-under-par 69 to lead a group of six players to the Championship, as he claimed medalist honors in the Westchester qualifier at Mohansic GC in Yorktown Heights, NY.
The Long Island qualifier was held on June 24th at Rock Hill Golf and Country Club in Manorville, NY. Dennis Lynch and Tarik Can of Bethpage, along with Andrew Anello of Harbor Links each shared medalist honors with rounds of 72 with fourteen players earning a spot. The Long Island qualifier was the final qualifying round.
The contestants in this year’s Championship will be playing a Robert Trent Jones design, which plays to a par of 71 and measures 6,512 yards from the back tees. The course opened in 1965 as Bruce Memorial Golf Course and is characterized by rolling hills on the back nine and hardwood trees all over the course to make it a visual treat well as a solid test of golf.
Live scoring will be provided for the MGA Senior Amateur by the BlueGolf, which will be available on the MGA’s website, www.mgagolf.org.
For more information on the MGA Public Links Championship, contact Tommy Dee of the MGA at (914) 347-4653 or via e-mail at tdee@mgagolf.org.
