LOCUST VALLEY, N.Y. (May 16, 2007) – Defending champion Shawn McLoughlin of Ridgewood (Conn.), 2006 NJSGA Player of the Year Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge and 2006 NJSGA Mid-Amateur champion Allan Small of Fairmount will join a field of 188 players set to compete for the 80th MGA Senior Amateur Championship scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, May 23rd and 24th, at The Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, N.Y.

The MGA Senior Amateur is open to players 55 years of age or older with USGA Handicap Indexes of 9.0 or better. The field will play 18 holes of stroke play on Wednesday, May 23rd, after which a cut will be made and the low 20 scores and ties who will advance to the second round. Winners in each of four age categories will also be determined after 18 holes. The championship will conclude with 18 holes of stroke play on Thursday, May 24th.

The 2007 MGA Senior Amateur field also features an impressive list of former MGA champions who look to add another title to their list of achievements. These accomplished players include two-time MGA Senior Amateur winner Stephen Rose of Fresh Meadow and 2005 MGA Player of the Year Ron Vannelli of Metuchen. Former Met Amateur championPeter Van Ingen of Deepdale and former Ike and NJSGA Amateur champion Bob Housenof Manasquan River will be in search of their first MGA Senior Amateur title. Former MGA President Donald Hendler of Meadow Brook and MGA Executive Director Jay Mottola of Tuxedo are also in the field.

This year will mark the first time that the MGA Senior Amateur is played at Piping Rock, a highly acclaimed Charles Blair Macdonald/Seth Raynor design. Founded in 1912, Piping Rock has also hosted the 1990 and 2002 Met Amateur Championships, won by John Baldwin and Johnson Wagner, respectively. The golf course, which was renovated by Pete Dye in the late 1980’s and is always one of the Met Area’s best conditioned layouts, promises to present quite a challenge to this year’s field.

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

For more information on the MGA Senior Amateur Championship please contact Bob Nielsen at bnielsen@mgagolf.org or (914) 347-4653, ext. 239, or Gene Westmoreland atgwestmore@mgagolf.org or (914) 347-4653, ext. 225.