Rockaway River Hosts 95th State Open Championship

Rockaway River Country Club, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, will play host to the 94th NJSGA Open Championship. The event is sponsored by Lincoln Motor Company.

The State Open Championship is set for Tuesday through Thursday (July 14-16) when the 54-hole, stroke-play tournament is played over the par-72, 6,712-yard venue. The starting field consists of 134 players, both amateur and professional, who are either exempt or qualified at one of four state-wide sectional qualifying sites. After the completion of 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 50 scorers plus ties for the final round.

Defending champion Max Greyserman of Crestmont, a Duke University golfer, was the youngest to ever win the State Open when he did it last year at age 19. He leads the starting field that includes 81 qualifiers and 53 exempt players. Of that group of 134, 60 are amateurs.

GREYSERMAN LEADS COLLEGE CONTINGENT INTO OPEN 95th NJSGA Open Championship Program

Including Greyserman, who won last month’s State Amateur championship, 12 former champions from as far back as 1984 (David Glenz 1990, ’88, ‘86 and ’84) will be competing for the right to hoist the Carl W. Badenhausen Trophy.

Other former champions are Brett Jones of Due Process Stable (2009), Mark McCormick of Suburban (2008), Jason Lamp of Galloway National (2006), Ed Whitman of Knickerbocker (2004, ’96, ’95 and ’90), Greg Farrow of Deerwood (2003), Baker Maddera of Rock Spring (2002), Chris Dachisen of North Jersey (2001 and ’97), John DiMarco of Laurel Creek (2000), Steve Sieg of Navesink (1989), Gary Ostrega of Hyatt Hills (1985) and Glenz.

Qualifying medalists include pro Tyler Hall of Upper Montclair (at Galloping Hill), amateur Mike O’Connell of Arcola (at Glenwood), collegiate amateurs Mike Shine of Valley Brook and Sean Farren of Manasquan River and pro Robert Hennefer of Indian Spring (at Pine Barrens) and amateur Sam Goldenring, 17, of Brooklake (at Green Brook).

“Rockaway River Country Club has been the site for many local tournaments throughout the years including the State Open in 1969. This year’s tournament will test the course management skills of each of our competitors,” said Frank O’Brien, president of the NJSGA. “Although not a long course by today’s standards, Rockaway River demands good shot selection and the need to navigate its difficult greens. The golfers competing in the 2015 State Open will face a stiff test in handling this wonderful golf course.

“The 2015 State Open should be a dandy. Defending Champion amateur Max Greyserman of Crestmont is coming off a recent win at the just concluded State Amateur. Max is a strong competitor and has his sights on retaining the Open Championship. There are a host of players, both professional and amateur, who have the experience and familiarity with Rockaway River to make the 2015 Championship a wide open affair,” O’Brien added.

This year marks the second time that Rockaway River Country Club will host the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Open Championship. The first was in 1969 when Babe Lichardus, playing out of Shackamaxon, won the third of his four Open titles.

The field will be tested from the start. The opening hole, is a par five, is as challenging as any opening hole in the state. It plays to a maximum of 578 yards. There is traditional out of bounds to the right. On the left, the cemetery that is one of the club’s distinguishing landmarks is also out of bounds. Big hitters may try to get home in two, but a false front makes that a challenging task.

The sixth hole is a splendid par three at 210 yards. The green is protected on three sides by bunkers, and the putting surface itself slopes severely from front to back; the participants are advised to keep their ball below the hole.

Host professional Greg Baker believes the 18th hole, a 566-yard par five, may well decide the championship as it often has during the Charity Clambake. The players will have to contend with the Rockaway River on the left side and bunkers to the right. The green slopes severely from back to front.

The new Rockaway River course, which was designed by Devereux Emmett and opened for play in 1923, straddles both sides of the Rockaway River and included the John P. Cook Cemetery, which sits adjacent to the first fairway and behind the eighth green. The small cemetery dates back to 1810 and is located on a piece of the property that at one time was home to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The church moved into the center of Denville in 1841, but the cemetery remains. Among those interred there are veterans of both the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

It’s been nine decades-plus since Emmet completed his work at Rockaway River, but his design has been remarkably unchanged. That is a testament not only to Emmet’s skill as an architect but also to various green committees and club presidents who recognized the quality of their golf course and resisted the temptation to tamper with it.

In the early 1970s, architect Hal Purdy was retained to devise a plan for dealing with the river, which periodically left is banks. In 1985 Brian Silva put together a master plan that formed a framework for what renovations have been done in the years since, chief among them the extension of the back tees.