Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association April 2017 Newsletter

Fox Run #18

The Metropolitan

MAGA Events

Catching-Up with Jay Delsing Page 4

Boone Valley to host

USGA Girls’ Junior July 24-29, 2017 Page 8

Normandie Amateur USGA Rules Update on Video Review Page 9

How it Might Affect You!

Amateur Series Begins Fifth Season with Event at WingHaven on May 15

Page 9

Page 8

Records: Can They Be Compared between Eras?

Old Warson Cup Kicks-Off MAGA Season with Outstanding Field

New Rule Changes:

Page 16

The Bogeyman Steps Away From the Post Dan O’Neill Page 18

Amateur Series #1 May 15 WingHaven

Amateur Series #2 June 12 Tamarack

Vol. 4 No. 2

Page 6

St. Louis Golf History: 4-Time US Open Champion Willie Anderson - A Winner at Normandie in 1908 and Pro at St. Louis CC in 1909 Page 10

Bill Maynard,

Superintendent at CC of St. Albans, named President of GCSAA Page 15

May 20-21

East Side Amateur June 10-11

Open Championship June 14-16

Women’s Amateur June 22-23

USGA Events US Open Qualifying May 8

US Senior Open Qualifying May 23

US Women’s Open Qualifying June 7

US Junior Qual. - June 27 US Girls Qual. - June 29 Full 2017 Schedule Page 11

Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association • 11777 Clayton Rd. • St. Louis, Missouri 63131 314.567.MAGA • Fax: 314.261.9250 • info@metga.org

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Curt’s Comments

STAFF Executive Director Curt Rohe - curt@metga.org Director, Operations Maggie Smith - maggie@metga.org 2017 P.J. Boatwright Interns Troy O’Donnell Jacob Weis Adrian Brown METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Amateur Championship Match Play Championship Open Championship Women’s Amateur Championship Junior Amateur Championship Senior Amateur Championship Metropolitan Cup Matches Four-Ball Championship Mid-America Junior Cup USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS US Open Qualifying (Local and Sectional) US Senior Open Qualifying US Amateur Qualifying US Mid-Amateur Qualifying US Women’s Mid-Amateur US Junior Amateur Qualifying US Senior Amateur Qualifying US Women’s Open Qualifying US Amateur Four-Ball US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball ADVISORY COMMITTEE Scott Thomas, Chairman Dustin Ashby Tom Barry Skip Berkmeyer Jim Dunn David Rhoads Curt Rohe

May Day, May Day! Here we go, May is here which means tournament season is upon us. Seems like yesterday we were wrapping up the 2016 season with the finals of the Metropolitan Cup. Lot of exciting things in store as we are prepared and ready for our 2017 season.

Curt Rohe

As reported in the Jan/Feb issue, Maggie Executive Director Smith joined our staff and has been very busy getting acclimated to her new position. However, even she commented the other day she is ready for tournaments to begin and get outside. We kick off this weekend with the Old Warson Cup at Old Warson Country Club. After all the rain the last week, it looks like a very promising weather forecast for the weekend. Look for a preview and who is in the field inside.

Rain, what a powerful, amazing force of Mother Nature. Even MAGA cannot escape as our office had some flooding over the weekend. But that is minor compared to what some of our member clubs are dealing with again. Our thoughts go out to Aberdeen GC, Tapawingo National GC and others as they are enduring these heavy rains and flooding just a year after record setting flooding devastated these facilities.

I would like to say thank you to Jim Nugent from the Global Golf Post, with whom I had a conversation with this past week about The Metropolitan. He was very complimentary and impressed by what we have accomplished with our newsletter. We continue to strive to make this more valuable to our members and I think you will see some changes coming to increase that value. I again thank Jim Healey for his work and dedication to this project.

As always, thank you for taking a few minutes to read through The Metropolitan. We will begin our monthly issues next month for the summer tournament season.

METROPOLITAN EDITOR Jim Healey

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or close-up camera shots that can be replayed in slow motion, has the potential to undermine this essential characteristic of the game by identifying the existence of facts that could not reasonably be identified in any other way. Such evidence should not be used to hold players to a higher standard than human beings can reasonably be expected to meet.”

The Decision includes a “naked eye” standard in the use of video technology to identify things that could not reasonably be seen. In addition, “A “reasonable judgment” standard is applied in evaluating the player’s actions in these situations: so long as the player does what can reasonably be expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if later shown to be wrong by the use of video evidence.”

Rules of Golf Corner Adaptation, and the Latest Change in the Rules of Golf - Decision 34-3/10 A couple of months ago I wrote an article here on the ever-changing Rules of Golf. Since 1744, when we started with only 13 Rules, many changes have occurred. Currently, we have 34 Rules, and in the proposed “Modernization” of the Rules, scheduled for January 1, 2019, we will have 24. Why? The reasons include: equipment changes, changing attitudes, distinctive venues, disputes not covered by the Rules, and growth and change in the sport itself.

In announcing the new Local Rule that took effect on January 1 regarding the “Accidental Movement of a Ball on the Putting Green”, the USGA statement included: “Modifications come about as a result of actual on course situations which expose weaknesses or omissions in the Rules.”

Reasonable Judgment: While most players don’t need to be concerned about video evidence of their on-course activities, the “reasonable judgment” standard in the new Decision applies to all golfers.

As stated in the new Decision: “This “reasonable judgment” standard also applies to any other type of later information, such as testimony from other persons, that shows that the player made a mistake in determining a spot, point, position, line, area, distance or other location.”

The most recent example of such situations involved the use of HD television evidence and an email from a viewer regarding the improper replacing of a ball on the putting green, resulting in the playing from a wrong place and a total of 4-strokes in penalties (the next day, during the last round of the competition). The penalties included an additional 2-strokes for not including the 2-stroke penalty (breach of Rule 20-7) on the scorecard before signing and submitting it to the Committee. The good news was that the player was not disqualified for turning in a scorecard with fewer strokes than actually taken, as the Exception to Rule 6-6d that took effect on January 1, 2016 modified the ultimate penalty in situations when the player is unaware that the penalty has occurred.

The new Decision instructs a Rules Committee accordingly: “When applying this Decision in any particular case, it is the Committee’s responsibility to assess all the circumstances in determining whether these standards have been met.”

Finally, please note the USGA charge to players: “Golf is a game of integrity in which the Rules are applied primarily by the players themselves. Players are expected to be honest in all aspects of their play, including in trying to follow the procedures required under the Rules, in calling penalties on themselves and in raising questions with other players or with the Committee when they are unsure whether they might have breached the Rules.”

New Decision: Limitations on the use of video evidence in determining whether a ball has moved was already part of the Rules, in Decision 18/4.

However, this video standard was not applied to other situations until the USGA issued Decision 34-3/10 on April 25, 2017. With this new Decision, the Rules now recognize, “ Video technology, especially the use of methods such as high resolution

Alvan Sage Member - Rules and Course Rating Committees

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Catching-up with Jay Delsing In 1975, a young, thin 14-year-old Jay Delsing signed up to play in the Eastern Missouri PGA Junior event at Paddock Country Club (today the Florissant Golf Club). He finished third in his age group, shooting a 37 for nine holes. Fast forward 8 years to 1983 and this thin young man from Glasgow Village in north county had been a two-time All-American at UCLA, one of the best collegiate teams in the country, and was about to make the leap into professional golf. In the years in between, he had won just about everything you can imagine: the Men’s District championship by a 10 and 9 margin; been medalist at the Missouri Amateur; advanced to the quarterfinals of the United States Junior at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware – losing to the eventual winner Don Hurter (currently the Director of Golf at Castle Pines, CO) on the 21st hole, and won numerous collegiate tournaments. He felt he was prepared to take on the game’s best! However, like many before him, it would take him two seasons before actually joining the PGA Tour, after qualifying through the grinding – almost cruel – six rounds of the PGA Q-School tournament. So it would be that after earning his PGA Tour Card in the fall of 1984, the boy had become a man and the players on the PGA Tour would begin to take notice during the 1985 season.

Like most boys growing up in the early 1970s, Jay played a variety of sports. His father had been a professional baseball player for a decade, seeing action with the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Browns and other teams. Jay had older sisters and a young brother, Bart – also a fine player – so it was left to Jay to find his level. When his sisters dragged him to the swimming pool at North Shore, that once famous 27-hole club at Riverview and I-270, Jay decided he wanted to do more than just sit by the pool.

He wanted to be active. While he has always been a huge fan of the baseball Cardinals, it wasn’t baseball that stirred his interest; it was golf.

He began by working in the bag room at Norwood Hills, earning enough money to eventually buy some clubs. He also caddied, picking up $5 to $7 a bag, plus tips. However, as a caddie, he was allowed to play the course on Friday mornings. His father, who worked for the St. Louis Review newspaper, dropped Jay off in the morning and picked him up at night, leaving him free to roam the Norwood grounds. The head pro there, Ed Griffith, took a liking to the popular Delsing and would help him on occasion with his swing and his clubs. Later, when the Delsings joined Norwood, Jay continued to work in the golf shop, but had the added advantage of playing with the other good junior Jay joined other amateurs as they took players at that time. This group included the likes of Jim Ruck, Gary Slay and on the pros in 1982. His opponent was Al Chandler. others. He also saw the talent of older players, Don Bliss, for example, and when competing, it was Jim Holtgrieve, Tom LaBarbara, Spencer Sappington, Jeff Johnson, Jerry Haas and Bob Mason who he teed it up against.

Attending St. Louis U. High, Jay grew to 6’5” and, naturally, saw basketball as another outlet. Not a scorer, Jay’s forte was his defensive skills, so he always took on the other team’s best player. On the course, he continued to excel, signing his letter of commitment early in his senior year to attend UCLA. On that team would be a wealth of future PGA players: Duffy Waldorf, Steve Pate, Corey Pavin and Tom Pernice. Among all this talent, Jay would excel – as he had always done - being named Freshman player of the year in the Pac-10 and then to two All-American teams in the coming years. Following graduation in June 1983, it seemed only natural that he would elect to make his career on the biggest stage in golf: the PGA Tour. However, getting there would take time, so, like many others, he started The Metropolitan

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on the mini-circuit, earning his stripes along with other talented players.

Stepping to the tee in his first professional event – the Iowa Open in Waterloo, Iowa – Jay really wasn’t sure what to expect. The only thing for certain was that if he played well, he would be paid. He believes he made $54 in that event.

“Early on in my career, I focused on my driving and scoring. Perhaps a bit too much on scoring. Looking back on it, I would have been better served to spend more time on my short game. But when you’re 24, 25 years old, you just think about pounding it out there all the time.”

Jay found success on the Tour from 1985 through 1993. With strong Receiving the award as the area’s top Junior support from his friends at Norwood Hills, in particular Roger Linsin, from Dutch Harrison in 1978.

Ed Griffith and later Dick Shaiper, he was able to balance his playing time with time away from the course. However, even in those early days Jay was focused on two things; being the best professional golfer he could be and combine that with owning his own business.

Beginning in 1992, he formed Jay Delsing Golf. “As I played in pro-am events on tour I saw how, in many instances, poorly they were run. I set up my own business, established a client base and began to bring groups to the weekly pro-am events. Businesses were looking for a way to not just reward their best customers with these golf outings, but also as an opportunity to secure new customers. My role was to be the intermediary. I’ve met some wonderful folks over the past 25-years and have many repeat clients who have found it a great way to establish a solid customer base.”

Like many professional athletes, Jay has also had his share of injuries. Two back surgeries cost him a few seasons and, as most players know, a back injury is one of those injuries that can end a playing career. Just look at Tiger Woods!

Jay competed on the Champions Tour from 2010 to 2016, but he knows that with the injuries he has sustained, it may be time to step away from competitive golf.

What Jay has done is begin to give back to the game, mainly through his involvement with the First Tee of St. Louis. Jay founded the local First Tee over 10-years ago with the help of his friend and Bellerive member, Chuck Cook. Jay picks it up from here. “I believe many people have the wrong idea of what the First Tee is all about. Sure, we bring golf into the mix as a way of introducing character as a foundation for life. But we’re really focused on the nine core values of the program. These are: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment. What I’m very proud of is that we have the First Tee program now in 63 area schools and we’ve touched the lives of over 25,000 children in the past decade. This means that the program is part of the Physical Education Curriculum at these public schools. In this way we’re not just introducing golf to these kids, it’s our objective to introduce them to a different way at looking at life.”

In 2017, despite the injury issues, Jay is a man very content with his station in life. He is especially thankful of his relationship with his four daughters with whom he maintains a special bond. Though his competitive playing days may be behind him, his days as head of Jay Delsing Golf are just getting stronger. Now in his mid-50s, Jay is focused on growing his business relationships as well as expanding his role within the First Tee program. He sees both of these as important aspects of his career and how he can continue to give back to the game, which has given him so much pleasure and enjoyment.

You can reach Jay at jdelse@pgatour.com or at jaydelsinggolf.com. He is always happy to talk golf with fellow enthusiasts.

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Old Warson Cup Migdal takes #1 Seed into the 2017 Cup Matches Defending champion Sam Migdal will take the #1 seed into the 2017 Old Warson Cup Matches, beginning Saturday, May 6. Also in the field is the 2016 Amateur champion from Glen Echo, Andrew Pranger, as well as five-time champion Skip Berkmeyer. Another Glen Echo player, Darren Stoffel, will provide stiff competition as displayed with his play during the 2016 season. In addition to Berkmeyer, former champion Phil Caravia will also be contending, as well as Chris Kovach, the 2016 East Side Amateur winner.

7:00am Sam Migdal (1) vs. Kyle Szyhowski (16)

Sam Migdal

7:10am Darren Stoffel (8) vs. Thomas Weaver (9) 7:20am Alex Cusumano (4) vs. Hunter Parrish (13) 7:30am Phil Caravia (5) vs. Parker Goldman (12) 7:40am Skip Berkmeyer (2) vs. Steven Souchek (15) 7:50am Andrew Pranger (7) vs. Chris Kovach (10) 8:00am Chad Niezing (3) vs. Kevin Jeske (14) 8:10am Tony Gumper (6) vs. Patrick Britt (11) Quarterfinal matches will be played in the afternoon on Saturday. Sunday morning the Semifinal matches will begin at 7:00am with the 18-hole final match beginning approximately 11:30am.

Follow all the matches via the MAGA website (https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/822826) from the outset Saturday morning. Spectators are welcome to attend the matches and see the area’s top amateurs contend for the 2017 Old Warson Cup!

The 14th green

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Old Warson Cup - Previous Results Year Winner 1996 Don Bliss 1997 Jim Holtgrieve 1998 Jim Holtgrieve 1999 Tim Riley 2000 Don Bliss 2001 Skip Berkmeyer 2002 Skip Berkmeyer 2003 David Estes 2004 Don Bliss 2005 Shawn Jasper 2006 John Kelly 2007 Skip Berkmeyer 2008 Skip Berkmeyer 2009 Skip Berkmeyer 2010 Scott Langley 2011 Justin Bryant 2012 Justin Bryant 2013 Garrett Sneed 2014 Phil Caravia 2015 Cy Moritz 2016 Sam Migdal

Club St. Albans Westborough Westborough St. Clair St. Albans Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Boone Valley Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Ballwin Bellerive Bellerive CC of St. Albans Norwood Hills Sullivan CC Aberdeen

Runner-Up Derre Owsley Scott Thomas Don Bliss Roger Null Brian Kennedy Don Bliss David Estes Andy Frost Skip Berkmeyer Don Bliss Chris Nagel Justin Bardgett Brian Kennedy Tom Barry Skip Berkmeyer Skip Berkmeyer Skip Berkmeyer Thomas Wuennenberg Alex Cusumano Skip Berkmeyer Skip Berkmeyer

Club Norwood Hills St. Albans Boone Valley Norwood Hills St. Albans Norwood Hills Bellerive Norwood Hills Norwood Hills Meadowbrook Meadowbrook Persimmon Woods Normandie Gateway National Gateway National Aberdeen Tapawingo Aberdeen The Legends The Legends

From 1996-2002 the event was named the Taylor Cup and was played at Boone Valley GC. It moved to Old Warson CC for the 2003 season and in 2013 was renamed the Old Warson Cup.

Phil Caravia

Garrett Sneed Cy Moritz

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Boone Valley to host 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior St. Louis golfers have a unique opportunity to see some of the best girl junior golfers in the world as they descend on Boone Valley this coming July.

The site of the 2007 U.S. Junior and the Senior PGA Tour events in the late 1990s and early 2000s, will challenge players from across the globe as they prepare to earn a USGA title.

Two-time champion Eun Jeong Song became the first girl in 45 years to defend her title when she won the 2016 championship.

She is eligible to defend her title as she will be 17 in 2017.

Among recent winners who have gone on to success on the LPGA Tour are: Minjee Lee (2012), Ariya Jutanugarn (2011), Boone Valley’s par 4 13th Alexis Thompson (2008), Inbee Park (2002) along with Alison Lee, runner up in 2012 and member of the 2014 Curtis Cup team, which won at St. Louis CC. Among the winners of the U.S. Girls’ Junior, five have gone on to win the U.S. Women’s Open, six have won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and 27 have earned 300 LPGA titles, including Mickey Wright with 82 victories.

Wright also competed at Glen Echo in the mid-1960s, winning a title in the St. Louis Open.

There is no admission fee for the event.

Amateur Series Begins Fifth Season The highly successful Amateur Series will take its first event to WingHaven on Monday, May 15. With four player categories - Net Open, Scratch Open, Senior Scratch and Senior Net - there is plenty of opportunity for players at all levels to compete in real head-to-head competition.

With six stroke-play events, and one two-man event, followed by a season-ending invitational championship, players experience the same type of competitive thrill as players who compete in the MAGA’s and other area major events.

The complete schedule is on page 11, with results for each listed on the MAGA’s website and in The Metropolitan monthly during the season.

Winners for 2016 at the Championship at Aberdeen GC, by category, were: Scratch Open: Alek Stojanovic (Annbriar GC) Net Open: Cory Mahoney (Metropolitan GC) Senior Scratch: (tie) Roger Davis (Persimmon Woods GC) & Craig Fallon (Fox Run GC) Senior Net: (tie) Leo Hefner (Metropolitan GC) & John Epps (Metropolitan GC) Good luck to all the competitors during 2017!

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Rules Update: Video Review The furor over recent rules “infractions” - 2016 US Open, LPGA & Anna Nordqvist, Lexi Thompson, etc.

- put golf’s ruling bodies in an awkward position. While the updated rules are due to be released in 2019, they did not want to wait for another incident, which would have golfers everywhere shaking their heads. In response to this, the USGA and The R&A acted faster than ever before, not only to clarify existing rules, but add a new “Decision” as well.

Below is an excerpt from the USGA Press Release on the changes.

FAR HILLS, N.J., USA AND ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (April 25, 2017) - The USGA and The R&A have issued a new Decision on the Rules of Golf to limit the use of video evidence in the game, effective immediately.

The two organizations have also established a working group of LPGA, PGA Tour, PGA European Tour, Ladies European Tour and PGA of America representatives to immediately begin a comprehensive review of broader video issues, including viewer call-ins, which arise in televised competitions.

New Decision 34-3/10 implements two standards for Rules committees to limit the use of video: 1) when video reveals evidence that could not reasonably be seen with the “naked eye,” and 2) when players use their “reasonable judgment” to determine a specific location when applying the Rules. The full language of the Decision can be found HERE. The first standard states, “the use of video technology can make it possible to identify things that could not be seen with the naked eye.” An example includes a player who unknowingly touches a few grains of sand in taking a backswing with a club in a bunker when making a stroke.

If the committee concludes that such facts could not reasonably have been seen with the naked eye and the player was not otherwise aware of the potential breach, the player will be deemed not to have breached the Rules, even when video technology shows otherwise. This is an extension of the provision on ball-at-rest-moved cases, which was introduced in 2014.

The second standard applies when a player determines a spot, point, position, line, area, distance or other location in applying the Rules, and recognizes that a player should not be held to the degree of precision that can sometimes be provided by video technology. Examples include determining the nearest point of relief or replacing a lifted ball.

So long as the player does what can reasonably be expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted, even if later shown to be inaccurate by the use of video evidence.

Both of these standards have been extensively discussed as part of the Rules modernization initiative. The USGA and The R&A have decided to enact this Decision immediately because of the many difficult issues arising from video review in televised golf.

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St. Louis Golf History Willie Anderson

The only person to win three consecutive U.S. Opens (1901, 1903-1905), and the first to win four times, he was clearly the dominant player of his day.

In the 14 Opens from 1897, where he finished second (at age 17) to 1910, he finished in the top 5 eleven times and never out of the top-15!

Born in North Berwick, Scotland in 1879, Anderson came to the US at the age of 16, playing in his first Open in 1897. His second place finish that year, by a single stroke, occurred when Joe Lloyd eagled the final hole.

In 1908, Willie came to St. Louis to play in the Western Open at Normandie GC, the first professional tournament held in the area. Opening with a round of 70, he held off a charging Fred McLeod to win by a stroke. Winning the Western Open in 1902, 1904 and 1909, gave him four added “major” titles of the day.

His first two Open wins were both won in a playoff, while his final two were margins of 5 and 2 shots. He spent several years representing Onwentsia Club, the famed north side Chicago club. He won his first title using the old gutta-percha ball and his last three with the rubber-core Haskell ball.

In early 1909, he was hired as professional at St. Louis CC. Like many professionals of that era, it was common for them to move between clubs from year to year, depending on how much each club was willing to pay and how much they were allowed to continue to play the pro circuit. On April 1, 1909, Anderson reported to the Country Club. During his time here he focused on developing younger talent - those under the age of 25 - to be able to challenge the “old guard” around town.

In December 1909, he informed the Club he would not return for the 1910 season, instead moving on to the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Sadly, it was there where he died at age 31.

He was an original inductee into the PGA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975.

Willie Anderson (center) with his arm around Alex Smith.

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Competition Schedule 2017 MAGA Competitions

Entry Championship Date(s) Deadline Venue The Old Warson Cup Normandie Amateur East Side Amateur Open Championship Women’s Amateur Championship Junior Amateur Championship Amateur Championship Senior Amateur Championship Four-Ball Championship

May 6-7 May 20-21 June 10-11 June 14-16 June 22-23 July 5-6 August 3-5 August 14-15 October 13

Invitational May 12 June 2 May 31 June 7 June 21 July 19 July 26 Sept. 27

Old Warson Country Club Normandie Golf Club Spencer T. Olin Golf Course CC of St. Albans Sunset Hills Country Club Aberdeen Golf Course Norwood Hills Country Club Westborough Country Club Algonquin Golf Club

2017 USGA Qualifying Rounds

Entry Championship Date(s) Deadline Venue US Open Local Qualifying US Senior Open Qualifying US Women’s Open Qualifying (36-holes) US Junior Amateur Qualifying US Girls’ Junior Amateur Qualifying US Amateur Qualifying US Senior Amateur Qualifying US Senior Women’s Amateur Qualifying US Women’s Mid-Amateur Qualifying US Mid-Amateur Qualifying 2018 US Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying

May 8 May 23 June 7 June 27 June 29 July 17-18 August 7 August 7 August 22 August 22 October 2

April 26 May 10 May 17 June 7 June 14 June 21 Juy 12 July 19 August 2 August 9 August 16

The Legends Glen Echo Country Club Bogey Hills Country Club Links at Kokopelli Lake Forest Country Club Spencer T. Olin Golf Course Greenbriar Hills Country Club Greenbriar Hills Country Club Meadowbrook Country Club Meadowbrook Country Club Sunset Country Club

2017 MAGA Amateur Series Schedule

Entry Event Date(s) Deadline #1 May 15 May 8 #2 June 12 June 5 #3 June 30 June 23 #4 July 10 July 3 #5 August 11 August 4 #6 August 28 August 21 Two-Man Event September 25 September 18 Two-Day Championship October 7-8

Venue WingHaven Country Club Tamarack Golf Club Bear Creek Golf Club Persimmon Woods Golf Club Annbriar Golf Club The Quarry at Crystal Springs Far Oaks Golf Course Aberdeen Golf Club (Invitational)

Online applications for ALL MAGA events are available on the MAGA website.

Events in grey have been completed.

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MAY 2017 May 1

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6 Old Warson Cup

8 9 US Open Local Qualifying

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15 16 Amateur Series #1

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20 Normandie Amateur

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7 Old Warson Cup

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23 US Sr. Open Qualifying 30

MAGA Events in RED | USGA Events in BLUE

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7 8 US Women’s Open Qualifying

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10 East Side Amateur

11 East Side Amateur

12 13 Amateur Series #2

14 Open Championship

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27 US Junior Qualifying

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29 US Girls Qualifying

30 July 1 Amateur Series #3

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Please Support our Supporters

Exclusive Corporate Partner of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association Allied golf associations and supporters of the

Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association

Resources

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US Junior Girls Volunteer Opportunities

Dear Fellow Golfers, We are excited to announce that Boone Valley Golf Club will be hosting the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship from July 24th – July 29th, 2017. The participants are the top female golfers in the country that are 18 years old or younger. Many of these girls have signed with national colleges. It will be exciting to watch them challenge our great golf course. Additionally, the Championship will be covered by Fox Sports.

We are asking for you to be one of the 56 walking scorers to conduct this great championship. Each volunteer will be requested to work three shifts. In addition to the volunteer uniform and food on the days you volunteer, you will be given the opportunity to play Boone Valley following the Championship. Also, the list of volunteers will be given to the chairman of the PGA Championship to be held in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club.

To volunteer you can click on this link https://pgamac.wufoo.com/forms/2017-us-girls-junior-championshipjuly-2229/. Additionally, you can find the volunteer form at http://www.BooneValley.org. If you do not wish to be a walking scorer there are many fun committees to join. Please review and let us know your availability.

We hope you will support this great golf event and that we hear from you soon. Please do not hesitate to contact one of us by phone or email with questions. Finally, please send this information to anyone else that you may know that might be interested!

Sincerely, Cindy Todorovich

Louise Matthews 2017 US Girls’ Volunteer Co-Chair 2017 US Girls’ Volunteer Co-Chair 314-541-1499 314-348-1236 Cindy.pca@printscharmart.com Bogey19555@aol.com

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Normandie Amateur - May 20-21, 2017 - Prior Results Year Winner Runner-up

Year Winner Runner-up

1986 Tom Barry

Dennis Moore

2002 Not Held

1987 Tom Barry

Craig Schnurbusch

2003 Justin Bliss

Skip Berkmeyer

1988 Scott Thomas

Dee Sanders

2004 David Lucks

Skip Berkmeyer

1989 Don Bliss

John Utley

2005 Phil Caravia

Skip Berkmeyer

1990 David Estes

Chris Gum

2006 Skip Berkmeyer

Darren Lundgren

1991 Jeff Johnson

Craig Hardcastle

2007 Buddy Allen

Skip Berkmeyer

1992 John Kueper

Scott Thomas

2008 Darren Lundgren

Skip Berkmeyer

1993 Steve Irwin

David Lucks

Brian Kennedy

1994 Bill Bahn

Dan Barry

2009 Ted Moloney

Skip Berkmeyer

1995 Scott Thomas

Bill Bahn

2010 Skip Berkmeyer

Jim Holtgrieve

1996 Don Bliss

Craig Schnurbusch

2011 Skip Berkmeyer

Patrick Riordan

Bobby Godwin

2012 Andy Frost

Skip Berkmeyer

1997 Scott Thomas

Craig Schnurbusch

2013 Skip Berkmeyer

Buddy Allen

1998 David Estes

Terry Tessary

Phil Caravia

Clay Smith

2014 Skip Berkmeyer

Troy Halterman

1999 Scott Fann

Skip Berkmeyer

2015 Phil Caravia

Patrick Riordan

2000 Tom Barry

David Estes

2016 Ryan Haxel

Brian Lovett

2001 Skip Berkmeyer

Tom Barry

Maynard Elected President of Golf Course Superintendents Bill H. Maynard, CGCS, became GCSAA’s 81st president at the association’s annual meeting Thursday at the Golf Industry Show.

Maynard is the director of golf course maintenance operations at St. Albans (Mo.) Country Club, where he has worked since 2013. He addressed the assembly on the importance of sparking involvement in the association among GCSAA members of all classifications, both at a local and national level. “This association needs us to need each other,” Maynard said of fellow golf industry professionals, adding that the person one encourages to become an active participant in association matters may someday end up at the helm of the whole operation. That was the case for Maynard himself, who was spurred into service by those who mentored him early in his career.

Maynard is a native of Nashville, Tenn., and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee in 1986. He was previously the superintendent at Milburn Golf and Country Club in Overland Park, Kan.; Champion Hills Club in Hendersonville, N.C.; and The Virginian Golf Club in Bristol, Va. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The 30-year GCSAA member served as vice president of the association in 2016, and has been a member of the association’s board of directors since 2010. Maynard is a member of the Mississippi Valley GCSA. He also previously served as president of the Heart of America GCSA and on the board of directors of the Carolinas GCSA.

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Golf Records We’ve all heard it said, “Records are made to be broken!” Certainly that is true. However, how do we compare records from different eras?

When Bobby Jones shot his famous 66 at Sunningdale in 1926 during a “qualifying roung” (yes, he had to qualify), some said it was the greatest round ever shot: some have said it was almost a perfect round. Remember, it was with hickory shafts and a ball very different from those today!

Greg Norman’s round of 63 in the second round at the British Open in 1986 is also considered among the best, particularly in light of the wind that was part of the course that day. We must not forget Johnnie Miller’s round of 63 at Oakmont in the final round of the 1973 US Open - and the first 63 ever shot in a Major. Some say that was golf’s greatest round. Still, Tiger’s round in 2000 at St. Andrews also ranks right up there with the best.

In golf, we actually have three sets of records; those in the hickory era, from the persimmon era and from the current generation of clubs and players, which I’ll term the modern era.

So, how would Ben Hogan’s 1953 season stack up against Tiger’s 2000; or Bobby Jones’ 1930 Grand Slam season? Would Walter Hagen, who won six PGA titles when held at Match Play, dominate in the World Golf Championships? The Tom Watson-Jack Nicklaus duel at Turnberry in 1977 was considered one of the all-time great finishes as their nearest competitor was 10 shots behind the duo.

Alas, these are the type of questions talk radio (and TV) love to discuss. The main reason? It’s simply a matter of conjecture. First, it’s very subjective. Having played Oakmont recently, I can assure you that Dustin Johnson’s round in winning the 2016 US Open over the Oakmont course of today was likely just as good as Miller’s: Johnson just did not post as low a score.

Will anyone break Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA wins? We all thought Tiger would do it (79 wins) up until two years ago. Now, with his most recent surgery, it’s anyone’s guess if Tiger will ever tee it up again, much less win an event on Tour.

Everyone thought that the 271 score for the Masters, shot by Jack Nicklaus, would stand the test of time. That is until Tiger posted a four round 270 total it in 1997 and Jordan Spieth did the same in 2015. Will anyone be able to match Tiger’s 72-hole total of 19-under par, as he did at the 2000 British Open?

Then we have Nicklaus’ six Masters, Walter Hagen and Nicklaus each with five PGA titles (Hagen at match play - 4 in a row - and Nicklaus at stroke play). Will anyone ever win five US Open’s?

How about an amateur winning the US Open today? It was done several times before 1930; Francis Ouimet (1913), Jerome Travers (1915), Chick Evans (1916) and Bobby Jones (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930). But since Johnny Goodman won as an amateur in 1933, it’s been all professionals since!

Has an amateur even won the Masters? No, but the closest was likely Billy Joe Patton in 1954, who led after rounds one and two and had the lead going into the thirteenth during round four. However, a seven at 13 and a six at the fifteenth left it for Snead and Hogan to tie for the title. Snead won the playoff.

Lawson Little won the US Amateur and the British Amateur in 1934 and then in 1935 won both of them again.

He is the only person to win both events in back-to-back years. In addition, in 1934 at the British Amateur, his winning total of 14 and 13 remains the largest margin of victory.

The lowest four round total on the PGA Tour was originally set by Mike Souchek in 1957, with a record 257.

That record stood for 44 years! It was broken in 2001 by Mark Calcavecchia with a 256 total, then two years later Tommy Armour III set a new 72 hole total of 254. In 2017, Justin Thomas posted a 72-hole record 253 to set the new standard. Given how low players are going today, it remains to see how long this record will stand!

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Enough about the professional game, let’s look at some of the records set by ordinary players, according the the Guinness Book of Golf Records. I admit some of these sound rather bizarre, but since they are recognized as records, who are we to question?

• The lowest golf score over an 18 hole course (male) is 55, and was achieved by Rhein Gibson (Australia) at the River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma, USA on 12 May 2012. River Oaks course measures 6,700 yards with a par score of 71. Rhein’s round included 2 eagles and 12 birdies, and the rest of the holes were par for the course.

• The lowest golf score in 18 holes using only one club was a two-under-par 70 by Thad Daber (USA) using his 6-iron at the 1987 World One Club Championship at Lochmere Golf Club in Cary, North Carolina.

• The lowest recorded score for throwing a golf ball around 18 holes (over 6,000 yards) is 82 by Joe Flynn (USA), 21, at the 6,228 yard Port Royal course, Bermuda, on March 27, 1975.

• The lowest score in nine holes of golf in 9-under, and was achieved by Shinobu Moromizato (Japan) at the JLPGA Stanley Ladies tournament, Shizuoka, Japan on July 17, 2001.

• The most golf balls hit in three minutes using two clubs in 226 and was achieved by Mark Reynolds (Netherlands) in Zandvoort, Netherlands, on September 13, 2015.

• The lowest score in an 18 hole short golf course is 54 (16 under par 70), achieved by Christian Carpenter (USA) on his home course, Henry River Golf Club, which measured 5,443 m (5,952.53 yd), scoring 4, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, 4, 2, 4=26 out, and 4, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3=28 in, on 7 October 2007. Christian was only 12 yrs old when he shot the record round. On 5 November 2007, he was offered a college place at UCLA when he is old enough to attend.

• The youngest player to record a score equal to their age in years is Tsugio Uemoto (Japan) (b. 3 Jul 1928) who scored 68 at the Higashi Hiroshima Country Club, Hiroshima, Japan on 22 October 1996.

• The oldest male player to score his age is C. Arthur Thompson (1869-1975) of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who scored 103 on the Uplands course of 5682 m (6215 yd) in 1973.

• The most times for a golfer to score their age or below in 24 hours is 7, achieved by Bob Kurtz (USA) at Chesley Oaks Golf Course in Fairview, Alabama, USA on 1 Aug 2012. Aged 71, Kurtz scored 70, 68, 68, 67, and 69 on his first five rounds. After being unable to beat his age on rounds 6, 7 and 8, he recovered for two more successful rounds scoring 70 and 69 on the par-71 course. Kurtz played to raise money for Victim Services of Cullman, Alabama, USA. • The longest golf course in the world is the par-72, 8,548 yd Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club in Lijiang, China. The longest hole of the 18 is the 711-yard, par-5 fifth.

• The largest golf facility is Mission Hills Golf Club, China, with twelve 18 hole courses fully operational in December 2006. It also has a new par 3 course now.

• On May 20, 1970, Bill Burke claims to have posted a round of 57 (33-25) at Normandie GC (6,389 yds).

The professional at Normandie, Frank Keller, refused to certify the 18-hole round. However, Guinness Golf records did include his 9-hole score of 25 in their 1986 edition as the lowest round to date. His 9-hole score, by hole, was 4-3-3-2-3-3-1-4-2.

• Finally, the farthest golf shot. Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin (Russia)­assisted by caddy Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria (USA) ­teed-off during a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on 23 February 2006. Element 21 Golf (Canada) paid an undisclosed sum for the stunt, which was permitted by the Russian space agency as a means of raising cash. NASA estimated that the ball would orbit for three days before burning up in the atmosphere a­ distance of 2.02 million km (1.26 million miles). The Russians put their estimate at 740 million km (460 million miles)!

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Dan O’Neill: The Bogeyman begins a New Chapter The Bogeyman, to those who read his stories for over the past 30-plus years, has completed his final round. His familiar byline is history. What we will remember are the many unique perspectives he brought to area golf. All this from someone who never grew up playing the game but who brought to his writing a passion for what the game brought to those who did play.

How many of us looked for his column to get his take on a particular event, to see his perspective on the outcome? It was as though until we read his view, our take on what took place remained secondary. Did you know that like most new staff writers, golf was not his initial beat. Looking back to 1985, the first year we found his byline at (Photo by Cristina M. Fletes, the Post, Dan covered so many sports that it would make anyone dizzy. From Roxana cfletes@post-dispatch.com) to Mehlville, from Belleville to St. Charles, Dan wrote about high school basketball, football, tennis, swimming, gymnastics and soccer. He then dived into some college sports before writing about Power Boat racing at George Winter Park. It wasn’t until September 1985 that his first golf article appeared - about high school golf in Illinois - an interview with the O’Fallon boys coach. His next golf article appeared just a week later, covering the girl’s golf team at Red Bud high school.

See, everyone pays their dues somehow!

It wasn’t long before he began to cover the baseball Cardinals, though not as the beat writer. Instead, he shared with us his unique brand of insight into Cardinal prospects in the minor leagues. By 1988, he was doing profiles of Cardinal players, giving readers another reason to cheer for the Redbirds. He continued to spread his time in several directions, depending on the season and the need.

When the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association (MAGA) held its first tournament in 1991 (the organization would not officially be formed until 1992) Dan was assigned to cover this new golf group. He became acquainted with Tom O’Toole at that time, and he began to understand how O’Toole wanted to improve area golf. Tom wanted to make area golf events that were run by the MAGA the very best they could be; from the course setup, the officials, the hole locations, the marking of the course down to the last detail. Essentially, he saw that Tom wanted to make them first-class - the standard for how an event should be managed.

Dan also saw what few others did; the amount of time Tom spent ensuring that an event would be run properly. O’Toole was frequently at the course at sun-up, making certain things were in place. He was also frequently the last to leave the course, packing everything up for the next event. Dan admired this, for he knew that it’s only by getting the little things right that the big things take care of themselves.

Dan also took particular delight in covering the Metropolitan Amateur as it not only was held on some of the area’s top courses, but the field was generally among the strongest, producing champions that were among the region’s best players. At times he did more than just report on it as a writer. At a MAGA Amateur at Spencer T. Olin on a hot, muggy day, he spied Jim Holtgrieve carrying his own bag. Dan volunteered to Dan in 1996 caddie for him. When the other players saw what happened, a pool immediately formed with an over-under established as to how many holes Dan would be able to hang in there. It ended up being 14 before heat stroke set in. However, this wasn’t the only occasion Dan picked up a bag; he also looped for David Lucks in another MAGA event at Bellerive.

In some ways, Dan and area golf were very lucky. Bob Pastin, who had come to St. Louis as Executive Sports Editor from Baltimore in February 1985, loved golf. As a result, when Dan wanted to cover an event, present a profile of an area player, or just relay to his audience his views on golf, Pastin was generally supportive. About the only thing missing from Dan’s point of view is that Pastin was intent on him going to the Majors - not Dan.

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However, when he did travel to cover a Major, you can be sure that something interesting always occurred.

At one Masters, Dan ran into Bob Goalby, who invited the young Post reporter to join him for lunch in the Champion’s Room. Shortly after they sat down in walked Tommy Aaron who joined them. Golf historians will recall that it was Aaron who was paired with Roberto De Vicenzo during the 1968 Masters and made the fateful mistake of putting down a 4 instead of a birdie 3 for the Argentinian after they played the seventeenth. This error caused De Vicenzo to finish a stroke behind Goalby, earning him his Masters title. As Dan played like a “fly on the wall” the two Masters Champs began reminiscing about the ’68 event, as though it had taken place the week before. To Dan, it was the thrill of a lifetime listening to them go on.

To further his goal of covering more local golf, Dan developed a plan of which area events needed to have coverage. When Pastin agreed, Dan was out covering the Publinx, the St. Louis District, the Normandie Amateur and, of course, the Metropolitan events.

At about the same time Pastin departed the Post in 1995, the newspaper’s commitment to local golf coverage waned. “Meal ticket” beats like the Cardinals, Rams and Blues were first priority and getting golf in the paper became a constant battle. To Dan’s chagrin, legitimate coverage often was reduced to phone-in results, while his duties were directed elsewhere.

Dan (right) with Brian Henninger, lone qualifier at the 2016 US Senior Open at St. Clair Country Club

For his part, Dan continued his aggressive stance early each season, putting together a list of local events he felt needed to be covered.

Faced with this insistence, Dan was able to get space for most of them.

However, as the paper grew smaller over the years, the amount of space also grew smaller. For years, Dan had a regular Sunday column where he would summarize area events, outline upcoming events, and, on occasion, do a profile of a player or two. In recent years, this went away.

Most recently, the newspaper’s focus on golf has been hit or miss. When the 2014 Missouri Amateur was played in town at Norwood Hills, the paper didn’t cover a single stroke. A few months later, Dan was sent to cover the Masters for the first time in seven years. Go figure, Dan never could.

Perhaps the downside to the reduced coverage was the impression that Dan did not care about local golf. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Throughout the years, Dan not only got to know many of the players, but also their wives and children. He knew them so well that it troubled him when he was not able to provide the same degree of coverage as he had in the past. Sure, it would be easy to blame someone, but in reality, it became the state of the print media across the country. With more Internet stories, more access to a variety of media outlets, papers everywhere began to reduce staff. They stopped sending reporters to cover Majors; instead, relying on AP stories.

They began to ask, “What can we get from having our reporter there as opposed to using the wire-service?” While many of us can certainly think of several reasons, from the paper’s perspective, it was a financial move. Dan knew that when he was there to cover an event he could always take a very different view. He knew the players, their history, and the way they played. Heck, he even knew many of their caddies.

You may see Dan’s byline around from time to time. He’s writing for the “Morning Read” along with a few other things, however, his days writing for the Post-Dispatch are past. As with anyone who has written for a living, Dan will continue to write. Who knows where that might lead in the future.

With the golf season set to begin in earnest in May, Dan is hopeful that the foundation he built over the last three decades will continue and that area golfers will continue to look to the Post, just as they did in the past.

When the Publinx rolls around in early May, Dan always had a story or two just before the tournament began.

When it was over, he knew he would reach out to the winners and pull something out from their win, which would resonate with his readers. This year, he hopes that the winners continue to receive their just recognition. That same weekend, the MAGA hosts the Old Warson Cup. Both events will have outstanding players and have generally produced a winner truly deserving of the title.

To paraphrase Rick’s final line from the movie Casablanca, “Dano, it’s been a beautiful friendship!”

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MAGA Members are being offered a 10% discount on all tickets.

For additional information contact the Solheim Staff at solheimcupusa.com.

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New for 2017! Golfing Before The Arch: 1896-2016 The latest edition of Golfing Before The Arch updates area golf events since the last version was published in 2014. Included in this edition is: • Results from the 2016 USGA Senior Amateur at Old Warson • Complete Curtis Cup results and player photos • Updated results of District, Missouri Golf Women’s golf and area titles through 2016 • Updated course information with the latest club closings • Updated player details on championships and qualifying for USGA or other national events • Listings of Gateway PGA Section Champion from 2016 back to 1938 • It’s 572 pages of information and details on area golf If you love area golf history, or just would like to see your name in print, this is the one book for you!

The book is available for $39.95 at www.LULU.com, a self-publishing site. Upon placing your order, the book will be printed and shipped to you. You may search for the book by its name or by the name of the author, Jim Healey.

Also on the site are additional books by the author that may be of interest to you. They include St. Louis Hoops, a book on area basketball history, first published in 2006 and recently updated to include 2016-17 statistics.

Front & Back Cover

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Fox Run #18

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Vol. 4 No. 2

Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association • 11777 Clayton Rd. • St. Louis, Missouri 63131 314.567.MAGA • Fax: 314.261.9250 • info@metga.org

Important Information USGA website: www.usga.org MAGA website: www.metga.org GHIN website: www.ghin.org

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