ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 15, 2008) – The 11th WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links championship will be held this coming Thursday, July 17, on the Red Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. This championship annually draws a talented field of golfers looking to test their abilities against the best female public-course players in the Met Area.

Heading this year’s competition will be 16-year-old Allison Oakes of Sterling Farms (Conn.), who at 15 years, 10 months, became the youngest-ever MGA champion of an adult event with a victory at the Women’s Public Links last year. Since then, she has been able to maintain her strong play as she just recently won the Connecticut Girls High School championship, with a round that included four birdies and a tap-in eagle.

One of the most serious challengers to an Oakes repeat bid is another Sterling Farms representative, Deborah Johnson, who finished second in this event in 2006 and tied for fourth in 2005. Kelly Campbell of Spook Rock Ladies, who finished on even terms with Johnson in 2005, will try to improve her position this year. Also expected to challenge are Melanie Kleiner of Villa Roma and Joanne Martorana of Flanders Valley, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, last year. Past champions in the field include 2006 winner Daria Cummings of Taconic Valley and 2005 champ Karen Bouloucon of Black Bear.

This will mark the fifth time in eleven years that Bethpage Red has hosted the WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship. The Red Course, along with the adjacent Blue Course, opened in 1935, and hosted the 1936 U.S. Public Links Championship. “The Red” is generally regarded as second only to the Black Course at Bethpage, and like the Black is a true Tillinghast gem. The popular layout will provide a true test to the field, as most of the front nine is heavily wooded while the back nine is more open to the wind and features several long, challenging par fours.

The WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship is open to female amateur golfers who reside in the MGA district, have a current USGA Handicap Index of 20.0 or less and do not hold playing privileges at a course at which the general public is excluded. All entrants are subject to MGA Rules and Regulations.  

For more information on the 11th WMGA/MGA Women’s Public Links Championship, contact Greg Midland or Gene Westmoreland of the MGA at (914) 347-4653, or visit the MGA Web site, www.mgagolf.org.