The Metropolitan Golf Association’s tournament schedule for 2001 will continue an unparalleled tradition of more than 100 years: Highly-competitive championships hosted by some of the most prestigious clubs in the region and played over some of the most challenging courses in the country.

 

The season’s three major events, the Ike, Met Amateur, and Met Open, will be contested at three outstanding sites, historic Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, CT, the highly acclaimed Hudson National Golf Club in Croton-On-Hudson, NY, and the legendary Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, LI, which will host the U.S. Open in 2002.

 

During the season, the MGA will conduct a total of 17 Championships, and the year’s schedule also will include 30 qualifying rounds, in addition to 21 qualifying rounds for USGA Championships.  This year, the Association will also send an eight-man team to Ireland to compete for the 4th Carey Cup.

 

For the 21st season MGA once again welcomes MetLife as sponsor for nine MGA championships and of our Calendar of Competitions.  Their support helps the MGA Tournament Program maintain its premier reputation across the country.  A complete rundown of the schedule follows:

     

MAY

The 2001 season commences with the seniors in action, first at the Senior and Pre-Senior (Net) Tournament at the Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, CT, on May 3, then the following week when the top senior amateurs compete in the Senior Amateur Championship May 7-8 at Long Island’s historic Inwood Country Club, who will be celebrating their Centennial this year.  Simultaneously, the MGA’s team of eight leading amateurs will venture to the Portmarnock Golf Club just north of Dublin, Ireland, to compete over Portmarnock’s old course against a similar team representing the Golfing Union of Ireland in the biannual Carey Cup Matches.

 

JUNE

The summer season shifts into high gear with the Ike, the MGA’s Stroke-Play Championship, which will be played for the first time ever at the historic Fairview Country Club’s Robert Trent Jones-designed course in Greenwich, CT, on June 25-26.  The final two rounds of the 54-hole event will be played on June 26, and will decide the individual and team champions.

 

June’s competition concludes with the ladies public links players, who compete in the 4th renewal of the WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship on June 28 at the New York Country Club in New Hempstead, NY, a Rockland County course built during the 1990s.

 

JULY

July starts with the MGA/MetLife Men's Net Team Championship, often referred to as “The U.S. Open for the average golfer,” which will take place on July 2 at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park, NJ.

The week of July 16-20 includes two events.  The MGA Junior Championship and the MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship.  The former is the nation’s oldest junior championship, and is preceded by the MGA/MetLife Pro-Junior Tournament.  Both events are sponsored by MetLife and will be held July 16-19 at the Rockaway River Country Club in Denville, NJ. The championship is open to young men not yet 18 years of age, several of whom will soon become contenders in the region’s top amateur events. On July 18 the MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship will be played for the second time at the Tom Fazio designed Oyster Bay Golf Course in Woodbury, Long Island.

 

AUGUST

The season’s schedule reaches its apex in August, first with the 99th renewal of the Metropolitan Amateur Championship at the scenic Hudson National Golf Club in Croton-On-Hudson, NY on August 2-5.  Perched high above the Hudson River, the club’s Tom Fazio golf course opened in 1996, and received its competitive baptism during the Carey Cup Matches that autumn.  A 36-hole on-site qualifier the first day will identify the 16 golfers who will advance to the match-play conclusion of the tournament.  The final match will be contested over 36 holes.  The Met Area’s finest amateurs will put the Tom Fazio designed course to a stern test and will go a long way in determining the 2000 MGA Jerry Courville, Sr. Player of the Year Award.

 

On August 9-10, the MGA/MetLife Boys Championship returns once again to the Bedford Golf & Tennis Club in Bedford Village, NY, always a popular host for this event.

 

For the first time ever, the MGA’s two popular Father & Son events will be held on the same day, August 14.  The (Gross) Championship will take place at Essex County Country Club in West Orange, NJ, while the (Net) Tournament will take place at nearby Essex Fells Country Club in Essex Fells, NJ. 

 

The region's top professionals and leading amateurs will vie for the Met Open title at Bethpage Black on August 21-23.  This will mark the second time the Open will be played over the Black Course, which remains the only public layout ever to host the championship, and will be the last competition staged over the Black Course before the 2002 US Open.  The players will compete for a purse of $125,000.  Sponsored for the 21st year by MetLife, the Met Open will be preceded by the MGA/MetLife Caddie Scholarship Pro-Am on August 20th.

 

The August schedule will conclude on August 28-29 with the MGA Senior Open, sponsored once again by Buick Motor Division.  The field of senior professionals and amateurs (aged 50 and up, with a handicap index of 7.0 or better) will compete over 36 holes for a purse of $25,000.

 

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

The Fall season begins on September 24 with the MGA Mixed Pinehurst, which will be played at The Muttontown Club on Long Island. 

 

The MGA/MetLife Women's Net Team Championship will conclude the season on October 2.  It will be played at the Morris County Golf Club in Convent Station, NJ, which was founded more than 100 years ago by a group of women from Morristown.

 

 

For more information contact Richard J. Cerame or Gene Westmoreland of the MGA at (914) 347-4653 or via e-mail at rjcerame@mgagolf.org or gwestmore@mgagolf.org