Whitmoor CC #9 North & #18 South Vol. 3 No. 2 TheMetropolitan 20 Questions with UPCOMING EVENTS Roger Null Page 4 2016 USGA EVENTS St. Louis Golf History TWENTY QUESTIONS WITH US OPEN 1947 US Open ROGER NULL LOCAL QUALIFYING Page 8 MAY 10 THE FORMER COURSE FOREST HILLS GatEWAY CUP SUMMARY SUPERINTENDENT HAS A LONG AND DISTINGUISHED CAREER IN PROS VS. AMatEURS US WOMEN’S OPEN ST. LOUIS GOLF, IN MANY WAYS. PAGE 12 QUALIFYING MAY 24 ANatOMY OF GREatNESS An accomplished golfer, WESTWOOD CC - BOOK REVIEW - superintendent, golf administrator and course designer, Roger has PAGE 13 US AMatEUR FOUR-BALL become the “go to” architect in recent years for area courses looking MEN & WOMEN Olympic Golf in 1904 for updates and/or renovations. MAY 21-25, 2016 Page 14-17 Formerly the superintendent at US JUNIOR AMatEUR Old Warson, Norwood Hills and QUALIFYING MAGA EVENTS General Manager at Boone Valley, Roger is among the most respected JUNE 20, 2016 individuals in the business. ABERDEEN GC OLD WARSON CUP MAY 14-15, 2016 US GIRLS JUNIOR Page 19 AMatEUR QUALIFYING JUNE 22, 2016 NORMANDIE AMatEUR BOGEY HILLS CC MAY 21-22, 2016 US OPEN EAST SIDE AMatEUR JUNE 16-19, 2016 JUNE 11-12, 2016 See page 9 for full schedule Continued on page 4 Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association • 11777 Clayton Rd. • St. Louis, Missouri 63131 314.567.MAGA • Fax: 314.261.9250 • [email protected] The Metropolitan March-April 2016 STAFF Executive Director CURTíS COMMENTS Curt Rohe - [email protected] Wow! May is here which is really P.J. Boatwright Interns - 2016 when things kick into high gear for Schaeffer Bell MAGA. We had our first Amateur [email protected] Series event May 2 at WingHaven CC with 57 golfers out to start the METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS season, including our first female Amateur Championship to ever participate in the Amateur Match Play Championship Series. Open Championship Curt Rohe Women’s Amateur Championship Coming up this month is US Open Executive Director Junior Amateur Championship Local Qualifying (5/10 at Forest Hills Senior Amateur Championship CC) and US Women’s Open Q (5/24 at Westwood CC). Metropolitan Cup Matches Four-Ball Championship The “Road to Oakmont” begins for 100 hopefuls at Forest Mid-America Junior Cup Hills where 5 individuals will move on to the Sectional Round. Westwood will be a great venue to host the USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS Sectional round of US Women’s Open on 5/24. US Open Qualifying (Local and Sectional) US Senior Open Qualifying The “official” kickoff to the MAGA championship season US Amateur Qualifying will be May 14-15 at the annual Old Warson Cup at Old US Mid-Amateur Qualifying Warson CC. A sold field of 16 top amateurs from the area US Women’s Mid-Amateur are set get a leg up on the 2016 Player of the Year race. The US Junior Amateur Qualifying field and Round of 16 matches can be found on the website. US Amateur Public Links Qualifying US Senior Amateur Qualifying I would like to welcome Schaeffer Bell to the MAGA staff US Women’s Open Qualifying for 2016, he will fulfill one of our PJ Boatwright Internship US Amateur Four-Ball US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball positions. Schaeffer is a senior at Missouri Baptist University and on the golf team where he has one more EXECUTIVE BOARD semester before graduation. Bell is a St. Louis native and Stanford S. Grossman – President Emeritus went to Westminster Christian Academy. Thomas J. O’Toole Jr. – Vice-President Thomas O. Sobbe Jr. – Vice-President I have received numerous call and emails the last couple M. Ray McCraine – Secretary weeks of April in regards to the myMAGA app being down G. Scott Engelbrecht – Treasurer and we understand how frustrating this has been. Hopefully G.F. (Rick) Meyer Jr. – At-Large Member you read the update in the May 1 eRevision about why the H. Mick Wellington – At-Large Member app is down. The popularity and, more importantly, the use of the app had increased at such a high rate that GHIN ADVISORY COMMITTEE decided to shut it down and ensure that a superior product Scott Thomas, Chairman be brought back in due time. Thank you for your patience Dustin Ashby Tom Barry and keep posting those scores via METGA.ORG or use Skip Berkmeyer M.GHIN.COM from your mobile device. Jim Dunn David Rhoads Thank you again for taking a moment to read The Curt Rohe Metropolitan! We will be bringing you monthly issues May through August to cover all of the exciting things happening Metropolitan Editor at MAGA during the season! Jim Healey 2 The Metropolitan March-April 2016 the player plays the ball from the new position. The answer is yes; wind is not an outside agency. In this case, Horschel’s ball rolled into the water hazard ULES OF OLF ORNER (yellow) that fronts the pond and was not recoverable. R G C He received a penalty shot under Rule 26-1 and then 2016 MASTERS - BILLY HORSCHEL at THE 15TH had options under Rule 26-1. He elected with the option to go back under stroke and distance by playing Everyone who watched The Masters this year a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the surely saw what happened to Billy Horschel on the original ball was last played, to the left of the putting 15th Putting Green on Saturday during Round 3. green. Where he two putted from that spot for a Horschel went for the green in 2, as most everyone bogey 6. He also had the option to go to the Drop does, and hit that shot to the left of the green. He Zone, located across on the fairway side of the hazard. proceeded to chip up to the right of the hole, which is below the hole and in a great position for a birdie A little side note regarding Horschel at the 2015 US putt. After marking his ball, aligning his putt, etc., Open. You may recall that he was not happy when this he replaced his ball on the spot, removing his ball happened to him during his third round at Chambers marker. Therefore, his ball is in play. Bay, and he was very critical of the USGA afterward. By coincidence, I was the walking official with Horschel’s group during that third round on Saturday at Chambers Bay and I can tell you he could not have been more pleasant. He was very talkative and while walking up the 7th fairway made the comment to me “I really love this golf course from tee to green.” I was at the airport waiting for my flight home on Saturday evening when I saw his rant and was completely taken aback, as this did not seem to be the same guy I spent 4 hours with earlier that morning. SPIETH at THE 12TH The other question that came up quite often after The Masters was Jordan Spieth’s 12th Hole on Sunday. As As most saw, Saturday was extremely windy at most know, Spieth stood on the 12th Tee with a one Augusta. Before Horschel could attempt his putt, his shot lead after just making back-to-back bogeys. He ball, lying very close to the edge of the slope on the hit his tee shot on 12 into Rae’s Creek, where so many green, began to roll due to the wind and proceeded green jackets have gone to drown. He had his options to roll toward the edge and ultimately down into under Rule 26-1 after that fateful tee shot, 1) play the the pond that fronts the green. He stood there in ball as it lies (in Rae’s Creek…not possible); 2) play disbelief looking for a Rules Official. Rules Officials from original spot (teeing ground) that many have said at The Masters now walk with groups, as they do at would have been his best option; 3) take the point his the US Open, and are also given assignments, such ball last crossed the hazard and go back on that line as at the 15th green. Horschel knew exactly what with the flag as far as he wanted. Additionally, there is the answer was, but was still in awe that it had just a Drop Zone on 12, which was about a 60-yard shot. occurred to him. He chose option 3 above and went to a yardage he was comfortable with - about 80 yards - to clear the hazard, There is a Decision (18-1/12) that is titled Ball where he hit an untimely 65-yard shot, laying over a Replaced and at Rest Is Thereafter Moved by the huge divot where his Masters chances all but ended. Wind. In the Decision, the question is asked whether 3 20 Questions with Roger Null REPREINTED BY PERMISSION. ArtICLE BY PAUL HURST WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? “I grew up in Le Mars which is in Northwest Iowa. My junior year of high school we moved to Early, Iowa and I graduated there with a class of 24 boys and four girls. We had a hell of a football team with that small amount of people. Dad was a football coach and my brother was a football coach. Throughout high school I worked at the 9 hole local course selling golf balls, shagging range balls, changing cups, etc. Whatever they needed done. I actually had a football scholarship my freshman year of college. It was a very strict and religious college and lost my scholarship there because there were a few of us that got caught drinking beer one night.