Met Amateur Begins Thursday at Bethpage

The par-5 4th hole on Bethpage State Park's Black Course.

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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 27, 2020) – Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., is no stranger to making history and will do so again this week as it becomes the first-ever public venue to host the MGA’s oldest championship. The 118th Met Amateur Championship heads to the famed A.W. Tillinghast layout Thursday, July 31 – Sunday, August 2, as players aim to win the most coveted Met Area amateur title on one of the country’s most challenging courses.

Related: Pairings | Met Amateur History | Met Amateur Records

The field contains 91 of the Met Area’s top amateur talents, who will compete over 18 holes of stroke play on Thursday (altered in 2020 from the traditional 36 holes) to earn a spot in the 16-person bracket. Two rounds of match play follow on Friday, while semifinals take place Saturday and the 36-hole championship match on Sunday.

Past Champions
There is a quartet of past champions in the field at Bethpage Black: Ryan Davis of New Jersey National (2018), Matt Mattare of Darlington (2017), Michael Stamberger of Spring Lake (2003), And George Zahringer of Deepdale (1982, ’84-’87).

Another Final Run
Davis is aiming to make it three consecutive years in the final after claiming the title in 2018 and finishing as runner up last year. The last player to make three consecutive trips to the final was Jerry Courville Jr.

Match Play Mojo
Dawson Jones of Eagle Oaks owns the longest active match play streak in the Met Amateur, having advanced to the bracket each of the last four years. Jones has also won at least a match each of those years and advanced to the semifinals in 2017 and 2019. Ethan Ng of Knickerbocker had his three-year streak of advancing to match play snapped last year at Hudson National.

Match Play Again?
A total of 13 players that made match play in 2019 are in the field this year looking at another shot to earn the MGA's oldest title: Prescott Butler of Piping Rock, Davis, Rick Dowling of Golf Performance Center, Darin Goldstein of Deepdale, Dean Greyserman of Crestmont, Nathan Han of The Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, Jones, Jimin Jung of Trump National – Westchester, MGA eClub – NJ member Vince Kwon, Trevor Randolph of Arcola, Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow, Jack Wall of Manasquan River, and Adam Xiao of Old Westbury.

Champions Upon Champions
A total of 20 players in the 91-person field have won an MGA championship:

From One to the Next
Nine of the Met Area’s top junior competitors enter the Met Amateur just one day after competing in the 36-hole Carter Cup—the MGA’s Junior Stroke Play Championship—at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., Wednesday: James Allen of Scarsdale, Cole Ekert of Fairmount, Greyserman, Jeffrey Li of Fiddler's Elbow, Reece Mullahy of Metropolis, MGA eClub – Long Island member Jackson Murphy, Sam O’Hara of Maidstone, George Roessler of Maidstone, and Luke Sample of Old Oaks.

Regional Amateur Champions
Both Westchester and Long Island’s regional amateur champions will be represented at Bethpage Black, as Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow claimed the WGA title at Knollwood and Carter Prince won the LIGA title just last week at his home club of Huntington Crescent.

Repeat Scenario?
Last year’s champion Chris Gotterup claimed the title following his win in the New Jersey State Open. Mark Costanza of Hamilton Farm has the opportunity to make that scenario play out again following his win in the championship last week. Ng and Wall both logged top-10s at Knickerbocker as well.

Home on the Black
As members of Nassau Players Club, three players call Bethpage’s five courses home and will no doubt treasure the opportunity to compete in the Met Amateur as it makes its debut at Bethpage Black: Dennis Lynch, Jonathan Jeter and Dave Segot.

Format

• 18 holes of on-site stroke play qualifying on Thursday to determine the 16 competitors for match play
• Two rounds of match play Friday, semifinals on Saturday and 36-hole championship match on Sunday

Bethpage Black

• The Bethpage Park Authority purchased Lenox Hills Country Club and adjacent properties in the 1930s to create Bethpage State Park.
• A.W. Tillinghast was hired to design & oversee three new golf courses (Black (1936), Red (1935) and Blue (1935)), plus redo the Lenox Hills Course (Green). He also assisted Alfred Tull on the Yellow Course (1958).
• Host of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, 2012 and 2016 Northern Trust, 2019 PGA Championship and 2024 Ryder Cup.
• Can stretch to 7,468 yards

Coverage

• Live hole-by-hole scoring for stroke and match play
• Social media: @MGA1897 on Twitter for updates through each day; additional content on Facebook and Instagram
• Scoring, recaps, interviews and photos on mgagolf.org