After a condensed 2020 season, the MGA is excited to present a full 2021 championship slate with all championships and USGA qualifying returning to this year's schedule.
94th MGA Senior Amateur Championship
May 3-4 | Round Hill Club | Greenwich, CT
This season the 94th MGA Senior Amateur heads to Round Hill Club for the first time in the event’s history. In 2020, Ned Zachar of GlenArbor edged out Roger Hoit of Baltusrol to claim the title by one stroke. Zachar finished the championship with a score of 3-under to secure his first MGA victory.
23rd MGA/WMGA Women's Public Links Championship
May 18 | Rock Spring Golf Club | West Orange, NJ
Rock Spring Golf Club will host the 23rd MGA/WMGA Women's Public Links Championship for the first time in club history. This 18-hole stoke play tournament was created in 1988 and has been played at some highly regarded venues in the Met Area, including Bethpage Red, Hudson Hills, Sterling Farms and New Jersey National. In 2019, the event was played at Glen Cove Golf Club and Peyton Greco of Smithtown Landing Golf Course earned her first Public Links title.
28th MGA Senior Net Four-Ball Championship
May 18 | Ardsley Country Club | Dobbs Ferry, NY
The Senior Net Four-Ball Championship will be played at Ardsley Country Club this season. Ardsley will host the event for the first time in club history. The Senior Net Four-Ball aims to bring the competitive atmosphere to players whose Handicaps fall closer to that of an average golfer. What began as an individual event in 1993 is now a two-man team event. Notable past host sites include Burning Tree, St. George's and Glen Ridge. In 2019, Joe Eaton and Graham Linn won the event at Lawrence Yacht & Country Club.
19th MGA/WMGA Women's Met Amateur Championship
June 8 | Southampton Golf Club | Southampton, NY
The MGA/WMGA Women's Met Amateur is heading to the east end of Long Island this summer. Southampton Golf Club will host this event for the first time in club history. The inaugural Women's Met Amateur was played in 2002 at High Mountain Golf Club in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. The championship has been co-administered by the MGA and WMGA since 2012 and in recent years, has been played at premier Met Area clubs, including Somerset Hills, Mountain Ridge, Atlantic and The Tuxedo Club. In 2019, Ina Kim of Deepdale Golf Club claimed the title for the second year in a row, and for the third time in four years (2016, 2018 & 2019).
73rd MGA Public Links Championship
June 17 | Pound Ridge Golf Club | Pound Ridge, NY
The MGA Public Links Championship, one of the oldest public links championships in the country, returns to the schedule in 2021. In 1936, a group of golfers from Hendricks Field Golf Course in Belleville, New Jersey became the driving force behind the creation of this event. Since its inception, the MGA Public Links has been played at some outstanding venues that include Spook Rock, Bethpage Black and Hominy Hill. In 2019 at Neshanic Valley, Gray Barnes of Centennial Golf Club edged David Powers of Swan Lake by one stroke for the victory. This season, the championship heads to Pound Ridge Golf Club for the first time in its 85 year history. In the lead up to June 17, there will be five local qualifiers held; May 10 (Soldier Hill Golf Course, Emerson, NJ), May 17 (Rock Spring Golf Club, West Orange, NJ), May 18 (Van Cortlandt Golf Course, Bronx, NY), May 24 (Sterling Farms Golf Course, Stamford, CT) and a fifth at Bethpage State Park's Blue Course, date TBA.
66th Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship
June 28-29 | The Bridge | Bridgehampton, NY
The first of the MGA's three major championships will take place at The Bridge. This 2002 Rees Jones design on the East End of Long Island has quickly rose to prominence. The 66th Ike Championship will be the first MGA event hosted by the club. The Ike, founded in 1953, is considered the premier stroke-play amateur event in the Met Area. In recent years, it has been played at well-respected venues such as Somerset Hills, Mountain Ridge, Friar's Head and Quaker Ridge. Last season, eventual Player of the Year Mark Costanza of Hamilton Farm dramatically won the Ike at Country Club of Darien, chipping in for eagle on the final hole for a walk-off, one-stroke victory.
57th MGA/WMGA Mixed Pinehurst Championship
July 6 | Lawrence Yacht & Country Club | Lawrence, NY
This season, Lawrence Yacht and Country Club will host the MGA/WMGA Mixed Pinehurst Championship for the first time in club history. The event was founded in 1964 and offers a unique format as teams of two bring together some of the top male and female players in the Met Area. Recent venues to host this event include Knollwood, Glen Ridge and Old Westbury. In 2019, Kelly Sim of Alpine Country Club and James Lee of Baltusrol Golf Club captured the trophy.
104th Met Junior Championship Sponsored By MetLife
July 12-14 | The Tuxedo Club | Tuxedo Park, NY
For the first time in club history, The Tuxedo Club will host the 104th Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife this season. This match-play event dates back all the way to 1912, when it was founded as the MGA Junior Championship. This past season, the event was held at Rockaway River, where eventual 2020 MGA Junior Player of the Year Luke Sample defeated James Allen 3 & 2. In additional to winning the Met Junior, the following month Sample would capture the Met Open trophy, capping off an incredible 2020 season.
53rd MGA/MetLife Boys Championship
July 22-23 | Gardiner's Bay Country Club | Shelter Island, NY
This year's MGA/MetLife Boys Championship heads back to Gardiner's Bay Country Club for the first time since 2018. The event was first played in 1969 at Westchester Country Club and since 1987 it has rotated between four host sites: Gardiner's Bay on Shelter Island, Bedford Golf & Tennis in Westchester County, Rumson in New Jersey and Glen Ridge in New Jersey. Following qualifiers throughout the Met Area, players are seeded into a 16-player match-play bracket. Back-to-back champion Reed Greyserman of Short Hills, New Jersey, has aged out of the championship, opening the door for a new winner in 2021.
19th Carter Cup
July 27 | Baltusrol Golf Club | Springfield, NJ
The Carter Cup, the MGA’s Junior Stroke Play Championship, returns home to Baltusrol Golf Club in 2021, taking place on both the Upper and Lower courses. The junior invitational honors Michael Carter, a junior club champion at both Baltusrol and Winged Foot Golf Club who died in a car accident in 2002. James Allen of Scarsdale, New York shot 7-under to win the title at Canoe Brook last year as Baltusrol underwent restoration work.
Background Photo Credit: Evan Schiller Photography
119th Met Amateur Championship
July 29-Aug 1 | Plainfield Country Club | Edison, NJ
The 119th Met Amateur Championship heads to Plainfield Country Club for the 6th time in club history. Plainfield last hosted the Met Amateur in 1998, when Jim McGovern defeated Jeff Thomas 6 & 4. The Met Amateur is rivaled for longevity in this country only by the U.S. Amateur and as one of the MGA's three major championships, its list of winners stands as a testament to its ability to identify the region's top amateur player. In 2020, Jack Wall of Manasquan River defeated Luke Sample, 4 & 2.
71st MGA Father & Son Championship
August 9 | Tamarack Country Club | Greenwich, CT
The 71st Father & Son Championship will take place at Tamarack Country Club this summer. Created in 1951, the Father & Son Championship serves as an opportunity for fathers and sons to bond and play together competitively. The first Father & Son Championship was played at Saint Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-On-Hudson, New York. The 2020 Father & Son Championship took place at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield, New Jersey where Dave and Peter Scialabba took home the title.
106th Met Open Championship Presented By Callaway
August 24-26 | Hudson National Golf Club | Croton-On-Hudson, NY
The Met Open is the third oldest Open championship in the country, following the U.S. and Western Opens. Until World War II, the Met Open was considered one of the "major tournaments" on the professional circuit, in part because it offered one of the richest purses. It attracted many of the country's top players and the winner was usually selected to the Ryder Cup team. The event became a financial burden for the MGA and it was discontinued in 1941. Eight years later, the Met Open was reinstated as a three-day tournament with a one-day Pro-Am component. The trophy, still awarded today, was donated by former MGA President Walker L. Trammell. In 2020, Luke Sample won the Met Open at Mountain Ridge as an amateur, a feat last accomplished by John Stoltz in 2005. Sample shot 8-under for the three days, finishing three strokes lower than Ben Polland of Deepdale Golf Club and Paul Pastore of Fairview Country Club, who both finished tied for second at 5-under par. This summer, Hudson National Golf Club will host the Met Open for the second time in club history and the first since 2004 when Rick Hartmann won the event.
25th Lexus MGA Senior Open Championship
August 30-31 | Old Westbury Golf & Country Club | Old Westbury, NY
This year's MGA Senior Open will be played at Old Westbury Golf & Country Club for the first time in the event's history. The MGA Senior Open began in 1997 and has been contested at highly respected venues across the Met Area: Brooklawn Country Club, Essex County Country Club and Glen Head Country Club to name a few. Frank Esposito, Jr., of Forsgate Country Club won the title last year, defeating Mike Meehan and Ed Whitman in a playoff after the trio finished at 1-under for the championship. Esposito birdied the second playoff hole to earn the silver platter.
10th MGA Senior Masters Tournament
Sept. 30 | Hempstead Golf & Country Club | Hempstead, NY
The Senior Masters Tournament is one of the newer events on the MGA's schedule. The inaugural MGA Senior Masters was originally supposed to be played in 2011, but was postponed a year due to Tropical Storm Irene. After the full-year delay, the event made its debut at Country Club of Fairfield in September of 2012. In just a handful of years, the MGA Senior Masters Tournament has become a popular and competitive championship for amateurs age 65 and older. In 2020, the event was won by George Zahringer III of Deepdale Golf Club. This season, the event heads to Hempstead Golf & Country Club for the first time.
15th MGA Mid-Amateur Championship
October 4-5 | Friar's Head | Riverhead, NY
The MGA Mid-Amateur Championship was played for the first time in 2007 at Hudson National Golf Club, the host of this year's Met Open. As a two-day, stroke-play invitational, the championship brings together the Met Area's top players aged 30 and above. Players earn a spot in the field based on high finishes in select MGA and Met Area events. In 2020, Tom Timby (MGA eClub - New Jersey), finished the two days at 3-over par, winning the event by two strokes and capturing the Westmoreland Cup, named in honor of former longtime MGA Tournament Director Gene Westmoreland. This season, Friar's Head will host the event for the first time in club history.
Background Photo Credit: Evan Schiller Photography
16th Governor Hugh L. Carey Challenge Cup
October 12-13 | Carton House (Montgomerie Course) Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
An event played every two years, the 16th Governor Hugh L. Carey Challenge Cup returns to the MGA schedule in 2021. This tradition began in the fall of 1990, when a team of amateurs from the Golfing Union of Ireland came to compete against the MGA in what was then known as the Metedeconk International Challenge Cup. Following the 1992 matches at Waterville in Ireland, there was a short four year hiatus. In 1996, NY Governor Hugh L. Carey spearheaded the revival of this event. Carey donated a silver claret jug which serves as the trophy presented to the winning team. In 2019, the matches were played on American soil at Arcola Country Club, where team MGA mounted a dramatic comeback in the singles session to capture the Cup. As is tradition, the 2021 matches will be played abroad in Ireland, at the Carton House Golf Club's Montgomerie Course in Maynooth, County Kildare.
44th MGA/MetLife Men's Four-Ball Championship
October 19 | Spring Brook Country Club | Morristown, NJ
The MGA/MetLife Men's Four-Ball Championship was created in 1977 with the goal of giving the “average golfer” in the Met Area a high-caliber tournament experience. The event is made up of two-man teams with each team representing an MGA member club. Each team member must have a USGA Handicap Index of below 20.0 and the team total cannot exceed 36.0. In 2019, the event was hosted by Huntington Country Club and this season the event heads back to Spring Brook Country Club for the first time since 2007.
36th MGA/MetLife Women's Four-Ball Championship
October 26 | The Muttontown Club | East Norwich, NY
The MGA/MetLife Women's Four-Ball Championship returns to the schedule in 2021. After seeing the success of the Men's Four Ball Championship in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the MGA created the Women's Four-Ball Championship in 1985. The tournament is a two-woman team event and each player must have an active USGA Handicap Index that does not exceed (28.0) at the time the team attempts to qualify at the club level. The combined Handicap Index of a team may not exceed (48.0). The event returns to The Muttontown Club for the second consecutive time and past host sites include Spring Brook CC, Westchester CC (South) and The Seawane Club.