ThMe etropolitan Vol. 1 No. 6 Algonquin GC #5 udly Present UPCOMING ro ed B US S ENIOR AMATEUR P y EVENTS QUALIFYING Edwards and Hardcastle earn spots following playoff. Exclusive Corporate Partner USGA Q UALIFYING When the dust settled and the SENIOR AMATEUR US W OMEN ’S AMATEUR scorecards signed, there were Gardiner puts exclamation FOUR -B ALL three “73s” posted. With only two point on season. September 23 spots available, each player knew St. Clair Country Club what had to be done. It has been quite a year for Mark (Continued on page 7) Gardiner. First, he just missed US A MATEUR qualifying for the US Publinks - FOUR -B ALL finishing a shot from qualifying. October 6 Then he outplays a strong field of Bellerive CC amateurs and professionals to grab the lone qualifying spot for the US MAGA E VENTS Senior Open. You would think after that he would rest on his laurels. Think again. FOUR -B ALL CHAMPIONSHIP September 28-29 (Continued on page 5) Franklin County CC Scott Edwards 2015 A MATEUR TO BE PLAYED AT BOONE VALLEY GC See page 9 for full schedule Craig Hardcastle Mark Gardiner with George Meyer Trophy Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association • 11777 Clayton Rd. • St. Louis, Missouri 63131 314.567.MAGA • Fax: 314.261.9250 • [email protected] The Metropolitan August 2014 STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Curt Rohe - [email protected] CURT ’S COMMENTS Welcome to summer finally DIRECTOR , F INANCE arriving within the last couple Jennifer Langford - [email protected] weeks! I am not one to complain P.J. B OATWRIGHT INTERNS as we have been so fortunate this Ian Davis & Eric Mendelson season with the weather for [email protected] MAGA championships and the USGA qualifying rounds. The METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS season always flies by, but I Amateur Championship Curt Rohe believe the weather we Executive Director Match Play Championship experienced enhanced that fact. Open Championship The end of August means winding down, though we had Women’s Amateur Championship a wonderful Senior Championship this month at Greenbriar Junior Amateur Championship Hills CC. Mark Gardiner added to what was already a Senior Amateur Championship Metropolitan Cup Matches remarkable season by capturing the championship by a shot Four-Ball Championship over Andy Frost. We are looking forward to conducting the Mid-America Junior Cup inaugural US Four-Ball Championship qualifying for the men and women over the next two months. The women (six USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS teams) will compete September 23 at St. Clair CC and the US Open Qualifying (Local and Sectional) men (50 teams) at Bellerive CC on October 6. US Senior Open Qualifying August is also the end for one of our interns, Eric US Amateur Qualifying Mendelson. Eric has headed back to the University of US Mid-Amateur Qualifying Missouri for his final year at the Evans Scholar House. Eric US Women’s Mid-Amateur was a tremendous asset to our “team” this season, and we US Junior Amateur Qualifying US Amateur Public Links Qualifying thank him for his hard work and dedication to MAGA for US Senior Amateur Qualifying the last three months. Good luck to your senior year at US Women’s Open Qualifying MIZZOU! US Amateur Four-Ball I also want to take a portion of my article to say thank US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball you to two of the most dedicated volunteers MAGA has ever had; Tom and Alice Wohlgemuth. I cannot even begin to EXECUTIVE BOARD count the number of days and countless hours these two put Stanford S. Grossman – President Emeritus in over the years officiating for MAGA! They have recently Thomas J. O’Toole, Jr. – Vice-President moved to Waco, TX to be closer to family and will be sorely Thomas O. Sobbe Jr. – Vice-President missed around MAGA championships going forward. M. Ray McCraine – Secretary G. Scott Engelbrecht – Treasurer This edition of The Metropolitan is the final monthly G.F. (Rick) Meyer Jr. – At-Large Member issue of the season. The next issue will cover September- H. Mick Wellington – At-Large Member October as we officially wrap up the season over the next couple months. This endeavor has been a great experience ADVISORY COMMITTEE and I must thank Jim Healey for his expertise in seeing this Scott Thomas, Chairman program off the ground. We hope you, our members, have Dustin Ashby enjoyed receiving the newsletter. As always, if you have any Tom Barry questions or comments please email us at Skip Berkmeyer [email protected]. Jim Dunn David Rhoads Curt Rohe As always, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] . 2 The Metropolitan August 2014 A L OOK BACK CONNECT WITH US ... Visit us on FACEBOOK St. Louis golf can boast of many “firsts” in the history of golf. Or for the Latest Glen Echo was the site of the first Gold Medal Updates... Olympic Golf Matches and the only Gold Medal Team At TWITTER Golf Event (so far) in Olympic History. St. Louis was the site of the first U.S. Amateur played west of the Mississippi in 1921, and the first U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1925. In 1947, during the U.S. Open at St. Louis, KSD-TV RULES OF GOLF CORNER broadcast the first golf matches. It was also the first time that gallery ropes were used during the Open. Officiating during the summer at MAGA champi - In 1965, at the U.S. Open at Bellerive, that event onships or USGA qualifying rounds we have numer - marked the first time that the event was held over four ous situations come up that are always interesting. days. Previously, the final two rounds were both played This occurrence happened during the recent MAGA Senior Championship at Greenbriar Hills CC. in one day. In 1981, Bellerive hosted the first U.S. Mid-Amateur. A player hit his tee shot toward an area marked as a With all of these “firsts” you would think that there Water Hazard (yellow) which also tied into Out of would not be much else. However, you would be Bounds down the left of the hole . The Player as - slightly off base. sumed that his ball was in the lateral water hazard and Two area players - Don Bliss (Norwood Hills) and put another ball in play under 26-1(a). After hitting Mark Boyajian (St. Clair CC) - each earned a remark - his tee shot under 26-1, a Fellow Competitor (not in able “first” during their play at a U.S. Mid-Amateur his group) informs him that the original ball was Out of Bounds. What is the Ruling? competition. Can you imagine what it was? In 1985, during the first qualifying round, Don made If the Player WAS virtually certain that his ball was a hole-in-one on the eighth and tenth holes at in the Water Hazard when he put a ball in play under Brookhaven GC in Dallas. He was the first - and so far 26-1(a), then he can proceed under 26-1, incurring a the only one - to make two aces during a single round one stroke penalty. in any USGA championship! Boyajian followed up the next year with an equally However, if the Player was NOT virtually certain impressive first. In 1986, at Annandale CC in Madi - (in this case he assumed) and he put a ball in play son,Wisconsin, Mark became the first player in USGA under Rule 26-1, he has played from a wrong place and the original ball is lost. The player must re-play history to post a 29. He did so on his first nine during from the tee under rule 27-1 prior to playing from his first round. It wasn’t until later that Jim Holtgrieve the next tee or he is disqualified. He incurs three (3) brought this to the attention of the USGA that Mark penalty strokes, two (2) for Playing from a Wrong was properly recognized for this accomplishment. Place (Rule 20-7) and one (1) for the ball Out of Bounds (Rule 27-1). Contributed by Ray McCraine, MAGA Rules IMPORTANT INFORMATION Committee. The Rules of Golf Corner will feature a USGA website: www.usga.org member of our Rules Committee. MAGA website: www.metga.org GHIN website: www.ghin.org 3 THE SENIOR AMATEUR (Continued from page 1) Mark Gardiner captured the 22nd Senior Amateur The 2012 champion Andy Frost was Runner-Up for Championship today, finishing 3-under for the the second consecutive year. His 2-under round on championship with rounds of 69-70. This caps off a great Friday enabled him to finish just one shot back. summer by Gardiner having qualified for the US Senior Open earlier in the year. 50-54: Low Gross – Dale Black; Low Net – 565-69: Low Net – Bill Wirtz; Low Gross – Danny Sheehan Art Deguire (not pictured) 55-64: Low Net – Michael Ghidina; Low Gross – Dennis 70 and over: Low Net – Buck Clement; Low Gross – Don Dupske Clarke The Metropolitan August 2014 4 THE METROPOLITAN CUP Norwood Hills, Greenbriar Hills, Persimmon Woods and Bellerive all advance to the Quarterfinal round. FIRST ROUND MATCHES : • Norwood Hills (9) defeated St. Louis CC (8): 4.5 - 1.5 • Greenbriar Hills (5) defeated Old Warson (12): 3.5 - 2.5 • Persimmon Woods (7) defeated Old Hickory (10): 4 - 2 • Bellerive (11) defeated Boone Valley (6): 3.5 - 2.5 Joachim, Quincy, Meadowbrook and Algonquin all had first round byes: THE QUARTERFINAL MATCHES WILL BE AS FOLLOWS : • Joachim GC (1) vs. Norwood Hills CC (9) • Quincy CC (4) vs. Greenbriar Hills CC (5) • Meadowbrook CC (2) vs.