With defending champion Nicole Morales not in the 2011 field, the 14th WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship is a wide-open affair. The championship, to be held on Wednesday, July 13 at Bethpage State Park’s Red Course, features a field of 36 of the best female public links players from throughout the Met Area. Morales, the 2010 champion, is now a member of a private club and is no longer eligible for the event.

The 2005 champion, Karen Bouloucon (left) of Crystal Springs, is the only past champion in the field. Bouloucon has had several high finishes in this event to go along with her one victory, including a second-place showing in 2009 when the championship was held at Patriot Hills Golf Course in Stony Point, N.Y. For her to win her second career title in the 18-hole, stroke play championship, she will have to contend with a talented field of players, many of who know the ins and outs of Bethpage Red very well.

A total of 15 players out of the 36-woman field play out of a Bethpage-based golf club. Among them are Oh Chun and Jung Park, both of the Fairway Women of Bethpage. Park finished tied for fifth in last year’s championship at Hudson Hills Golf Course in Ossining, N.Y., and tied for third in 2008, the last time the championship was held at Bethpage Red.

Among the other top players in the field are two 20-year-old collegians who look to continue the tradition of youthful winners of the championship. Karen Cash of Darlington (N.J.) Golf Course and Anna Ausanio of Beekman are paired together in the final group along with Chun, and hope to use their tournament experience to win their first MGA championship. Cash plays for East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, while Ausanio is a member of the Central Connecticut State golf team. Another young player to watch is 18-year-old Victoria House, a Brooklyn resident who plays out of Met PGA Junior Golf Club.

The well-regarded Red Course at Bethpage State Park opened in 1935 and, like its more famous sibling, the Black, was designed by A.W. Tillinghast. The Red has hosted the WMGA/MGA Public Links Championship on five previous occasions, with two-time champion Daria Cummings shooting a 72 in 2006 for the lowest winning score on the course.

For full coverage and results of the 14th WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship, visit www.mgagolf.org.