ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 6, 2015) – A field of 64 players will take on Eisenhower Park’s Red Course for the 68^th MGA Public Links Championship on Thursday, July 9.

Related: Pairings and Starting Times | Public Links History | Championship Records

Xander McDonald-Smith of Marine Park will lead the field as the defending champion looking to claim a second title. McDonald-Smith added his name to MGA records in 2014 at Charleston Springs with his record-tying 5-stroke victory over the field to claim his first MGA championship. The recent Penn State graduate also won the 2014 NYC Amateur and just last week finished in the top-20 at the Ike Championship.

After just wrapping his first season playing for Colgate, 2014 Public Links runner-up Armando Olivieri of Griff Harris Men’s Club returns to the field looking to take home the trophy for himself this year. He will be joined by other top finishers in 2014: Brendon Kim of MGA eClub – New Jersey and Brian Fitzpatrick of Neshanic Valley finished tied for third last year at Charleston Springs and are set to tee it up at Eisenhower.

Another past champion, Jacob Henny of Oak Hills Park, returns to the field after posting a top-ten finish last year. He won the championship in 2013 at Richter Park.

A couple of veteran forces will join the field: two-time MGA Mid-Amateur Champion Dennis Lynch of Nassau Players and David Prowler of Bethpage. They’ll be joined by other top Public Links players including Jacob Stockl of MGA eClub – New Jersey and Kyle Brey of Bethpage.

A bit of sibling rivalry will take place at Eisenhower this year, as brothers Paul and Stephen Pastore of Griff Harris Men’s Club are both in the field, each looking for their first MGA title.

The MGA Public Links Championship is contested over 36 holes and is open to male amateur golfers who reside in the MGA territory and do not have playing privileges at a course at which the general public is excluded. Competitors must have a Handicap Index of  8.0 or below. Five sectional qualifying rounds were held throughout the Met Area to determine the final field.

The MGA Public Links Championship was developed just a few years after the (now retired) U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. The MGA reinstated the championship in 1984 and since then the championship has been played on some of the most highly acclaimed public facilities, including Bethpage Black, Richter Park in Danbury, Conn., Hominy Hill in Colts Neck, N.Y., and Spook Rock in Suffern, N.Y.

Eisenhower Park, part of the Nassau County Parks System, houses three golf courses – the Red, White, and Blue courses. The Red Course was designed in 1914 by Devereux Emmet. In the earliest part of the 20^th century, the park was part of Salisbury Country Club, but after the Great Depression the county took ownership. The Red Course was the host of the Champion’s Tour Commerce Bank Championship for a number of years.

The MGA will be providing 9 and 18 hole scoring for the first round of the championship, followed by additional live scoring in the afternoon’s final round.