July Is Busy Month For State Competitions
By Rick Jenkins
Four qualifiers are in the books for the 91st NJSGA Open Championship and the starting field is set for this marquis event at Hollywood Golf Club sponsored by Lincoln and Prudential. A strong field of P.G.A. Professionals and the State’s top amateurs will tackle the difficult, 7,000 yard layout at Hollywood over three rounds of stroke play beginning July 12th. The field is comprised of 130 players, 82 Professionals and 48 amateurs. Brian Gaffney of Rumson Country Club will defend the title he worked so hard to win last year in the exciting playoff at Spring Brook Country Club. Spectators are welcome to watch the action at Hollywood; no tickets or admission fees are required. If you can’t make it to the course, follow the action on the NJSGA’s website through Live Scoring. To view the State Open program guide, click here.
July is also the month for the NJSGA’s junior championships. The William Y. Dear Junior and Boys’ Championships will be contested from July 25-27th at Basking Ridge Country Club. If you are a promising young player under the age of 18, there is no better experience than competing in, or winning, the State title in one of these divisions. Just six years ago, Morgan Hoffmann, one of the top ranked amateurs in the world who grew up playing golf at Arcola Country Club and just made his PGA TOUR debut, was the NJSGA Junior champion. Entries for the Junior and Boys’ Championships close Thursday, July 7th. The Junior Girls’ Championship is conducted separately and will be played at Trenton Country Club on July 11-12th.
The Public Links Championships are also conducted during July. The Men’s Public Links will be held at Heron Glen Golf Course on July 21st, for which the first of two qualifiers has been played. The Women’s event is set for July 6th at the newly restored Francis Byrne Golf Course. Alex Edfort of Neshanic Valley Golf Course has to be one of the favorites for the Men’s Public Links following his outstanding performance at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Bandon Dunes, Oregon, where he was the #3 seed following stroke play qualifying and advanced to the third round of match play before being knocked out.
The ever-popular Father & Son Championship visits Metedeconk National Golf Club on July 19th. The field is already sold-out for this fun and competitive event sponsored by McRae Capital Management.
If you’re competing in an NJSGA championship in July, best of luck. If you’re not, check out the rest of the schedule and consider entering an event. If you’re not up for competitive play at this level, sign up for one of our two remaining Member Golf Days, August 9th at Essex County Country Club and September 26th at Suburban Golf Club.
