The Metropolitan Golf Association is proud to announce that Peter Meurer of Silver Lake Golf Course in Staten Island, NY, will receive the 2004 Jerry Courville, Sr. MGA Player of the Year Award at the Association’s 107th Annual Meeting on December 1stat the Westchester Country Club in Harrison, NY. 

 

The Player of the Year Award is presented annually to a Met Area amateur who has compiled the best record in select events during the season.  The recipient is selected by the MGA’s Executive Committee based on a system in which players earn points for selected finishes in designated local, national, and international championships.

 

Meurer, one of the Met Area’s most popular players known for his “Staten Island charm”, jump-started his 2004 campaign with a trio of early season victories. He maintained consistent play throughout the season to earn a total of 739 points soundly eclipsing nine- time Player of the Year George Zahringer of  Deepdale and Sleepy Hollow’s Brad Tilley who both tied for second place with 495 points.  Pete is only the third Public Links player to take MGA Top Player of the Year honors since the award was created in 1976, and the first since Jeff Thomas in 1996 (Ralph Howe III in 1988.)

 

Pete’s route to the title started with victories in the Richardson Memorial and New York City Amateurs in May, followed by the Rockland County Amateur in June. Throughout the season he also carded top 10 finishes in seven other events, including The Ike, MGA/MetLife Public Links, Long Island Public Links, and Mittlemark Invitational.  In October he qualified for the U.S. Mid Amateur and closed with a 3rd place finish in the Bergen County Amateur and 10th place finish in the Boff Memorial for his best season ever.

 

The win was all the more sweet because of the caliber of players taking aim at the title.  That list included Zahringer and Tilley, 2004 Met Amateur winner Andrew Svoboda who went all the way to the quarter-finals of the U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot and young guns Tyler Hall and Nick Cook, the last three entering the pro ranks before The Met Open in August. The Honor Roll also included Met Area veteran players Mike Reardon of Tuxedo, Patrick Pierson of Miniseongo and Fairmount’s Craig Smith and Allan Small.  Rounding out the list was 2003 Met Amateur champion Mike Stamberger of Plainfield, Indian Hills’ Sean Hartman and Tom Yellin of Stanwich.

 

Meurer credits his performance this year to some intense weight and strength training over the winter which he undertook to try and recover from rotator cuff surgery last year.  “I felt really strong coming into this season,”  he said , “ I  also felt like my stamina was much better and that makes a difference, especially when you’re playing in a 36 hole event on a hot day.”

 

By Meurer’s own admission, the goal this year was just to make the top 10 on the Player of the Year Honor Roll – it does, after all, come with some nice exemptions.  But finding himself at the top of that list he says is “beyond his wildest dreams.”.

 

Peter will receive his award at the Association’s Annual Dinner which will also will include the election of officers and the presentation of the Association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, to former MGA President and top area competitor John Baldwin.

 

For more information, please visit the MGA's website at www.mgagolf.org or contact Tommy Dee of the MGA at (914) 347-4653.

 

1	Peter Meurer	Silver Lake	739
T2	George Zahringer III	Deepdale	495
	Brad Tilley	Sleepy Hollow	495
4	Mike Reardon	Tuxedo	485
5	Patrick Pierson	Minisceongo	374
6	Craig Smith	Fairmount	345
7	Mike Stamberger	Plainfield	330
8	Allan Small	Fairmount	324
9	Sean Hartman	Indian Hills	295
10	Tom Yellin	Stanwich	282

 

	Horace Q. Havemeyer Memorial	QF	30
	Walter J. Travis Memorial	SF	50
	NYC Amateur	Winner	100
	Rockland Amateur	Winner	50
	Ike/MGA Stroke Play	T-6	75
	MGA/MetLife Public Linksc	T3	46.3
	Long Island Golf Association Public Links	T4	27.5
	Met Amateur	On-Site Cut	65
	Mittlemark Invitational	2nd	75
	Met Open	On-Site Cut	50
	US Mid Amateur	SQR	40
	Bergen Amateur	3rd	40
	Gregory R. Boff Memorial	10th	15
		TOTALS	739

 

1976	Richard Siderowf
1977-78	Jimmy Dee
1979-80	George J. Zahringer III
1981	H.P. Van Ingen, Jr.
1982	George J. Zahringer III
1983	Jonas Saxton
1984	Jonas Saxton/George J. Zahringer III
1985	Mark Trauner
1986-87	George J. Zahringer III
1988	Ralph Howe III
1989	George J. Zahringer III
1990-91	John C. Baldwin
1992	George J. Zahringer III
1993-94	Jeff Thomas
1995	Jerry Courville, Jr.
1996	Jeff Thomas
1997	Jerry Courville, Jr.
1998	Greg Rohlf
1999-2000               .	Jerry Courville, Jr
2001	George J. Zahringer III
2002        .	Jerry Courville Jr
2003	Jerry Courville Jr./Andrew Svoboda