ELMSFORD, N.Y. (June 21, 2006) – Defending champion Andrew Giuliani will be one of 106 amateurs in the field as the Ike Championship, presented by Canon, USA, begins Monday, June 26th at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, N.Y. Giuliani, a 20-year-old Duke sophomore, will attempt to become the first repeat Ike champion since Ken Macdonald in 1999-2000. 

This is the 51st playing of the Ike, and the first time the event has been held at Fresh Meadow. Designed by H.S. Colt and Charles Alison in the 1920s, Fresh Meadow, formerly Lakeville, is a classic layout that is considered one of the finest courses on Long Island. The 54-hole stroke play championship includes 18 holes on Monday, after which a cut will be made to the low 40 players and ties who will return to Fresh Meadow for 36 holes on Tuesday, June 27th. Any two or more players from the same club who make the cut are also entered in the Ike Team Championship.

The Ike traditionally draws one of the strongest fields of any MGA event, and this year is no exception. In addition to Giuliani, son of former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and author/actress Donna Hanover, another collegiate player to watch is Larry Haertel Jr. of Greenwich, who plays for Brown University and won the 2006 Ivy League Championship. Also among the hottest players at Fresh Meadow will be Allan Small of Fairmount Country Club, who currently leads the 2006 MGA Player of the Year points race. The 54-year-old Small, who won the 2006 Hochster Memorial at Quaker Ridge on June 21st and the 2006 New Jersey State Mid-Amateur in May, is seeking his first Ike title.

 

 

 

Other players looking to contend are Metuchen’s Ron Vannelli, 2005 MGA Jerry Courville, Sr. Player of the Year and winner of the 2005 Met Amateur; 2003 Met Amateur championMichael Stamberger, runner-up to Giuliani in 2005 and winner of the 2006 New York City Amateur; 16-year-old Morgan Hoffman of Arcola, last year’s Carter Cup/MGA Junior Stroke Play champion who qualified for this month’s 2006 British Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s; Mark Farrell of Higgins, winner of the 2005 MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship; and Tuxedo’s Mike Reardon, who finished 4th in last year’s Ike.

There are four Fresh Meadow members in the field –Jon Doppelt, Andrew Fabrikant,Erik Gershwind and Stephen Rose – who will look to use home course knowledge to their advantage. 

The Ike was conceived in 1953 by F.M. Flynn, publisher of the New York Daily News. It was nurtured through its early years by Daily News columnist Dana Mozley and his close friend, the late George Sands, who was president of the MGA in 1974-1975 and a strong advocate of Met Area golf. Although the tournament was quite successful for nearly two decades, by the late 1970s the event faced an uncertain future and was not conducted in 1979, 1980, and 1985. The MGA acquired the rights to the Ike in 1986, and made the tournament its annual Stroke Play Championship. It has continued to grow in size and prestige each year and annually attracts over 700 entrants.

Complete coverage of the Ike Championship will be available at www.mgagolf.org, where you can also find Live Scoring for the third round provided by the USGA’s live scoring system, TPP Real Time.

For more information on the Ike Championship please contact Greg Midland at (914) 347-4653 or via email at gmidland@mgagolf.org.