The Metropolitan Vol. 10, No. 1 (February 2023)

Volume 10 | No. 1

The Metropolitan

Amateur Golf Association

The Metropolitan

Issue 1 | February 2023

Inside the Issue 4 Curt’s Corner

A message from the Executive Director

5 By The Numbers

Play

9 2023 Amateur Series Schedule

Yardage Book

Ruth Park: A Dependable, Accessible, and Soulful Neighborhood Joint

18 Rules Center

What to do when you find your ball stuck in a tree.

Announcement of the 67th President of the USGA. Championship Registrations have begun to open.

Mark Your Calendars.

Championship Season is right around the corner and Registration is Now Open!

13 Volunteer

Become a Volunteer for the Association Today!

14 Golf Fitness

Hub

WHO ARE WE?

An Allied Golf Association of the USGA providing a variety of golf services to clubs and golfers in the Metropolitan St. Louis, Central, and Southern Illinois region.

WHAT WE DO:

with the USGA

Schedule

Competing with the best in the nation starts here. Sign-up to Qualify for a USGA Championship today.

Emerging Technologies for Golf Course Maintenance: Mowers, Drones, Sensors, GPS, Data Collectors

20 Keeping Up

6 2023 MAGA

Schedule

16 Sup’s On

A place for all to experience that competitive edge. Events for golfers of all ages and abilities to play together.

10 The Bogeyman

8 USGA Qualifier

Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association

- Provide GHIN Handicap Service to 140+ Member Clubs under the World Handicap System - Provide the USGA Course/Slope Rating service to our Member Clubs - Regional authority on the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status - Conduct twelve (12) Metropolitan Championships each season - Conduct USGA Qualifying for nine (9) USGA Championships each season - Conduct three (3) Championships in Illinois - Conduct the Amateur Series of Events for golfers of all ages and abilities

METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Amateur Championship Open Championship Women’s Amateur Championship Junior Amateur Championship Senior Amateur Championship Four-Ball Championship 9-Hole Championship East Side Amateur Old Warson Cup (Match Play Championship) Shogren Cup (Match Play PGA Pros vs. MAGA Amateurs) Sobbe Cup Mid-America Junior Cup Amateur Series

ILLINOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Southern Illinois Amateur SIGA Championship Tony Stevens Cup

USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS

U.S. Open • U.S. Amateur U.S. Mid-Amateur • U.S. Senior Amateur U.S. Women’s Open • U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur U.S. Junior Amateur • U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur U.S. Amateur Four-Ball

22 Normandie

Reimagined

An update on the renovation project of Normandie Golf Club.

Early Extension and how to keep from feeling stuck.

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The Metropolitan

Curt’s Corner MAGA STAFF

Curt Rohe - Executive Director

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Curt Rohe - curt@metga.org

DIRECTOR, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Caroline Buchan - caroline@metga.org 2023 PJ BOATWRIGHT INTERNS Coming Soon

EXECUTIVE BOARD Officers Scott Engelbrecht, President/Treasurer Mike Marquart, Secretary At Large Members John Bugh Stan Grossman Kelli Kirchoff Mike Marquart Rick Meyer, Jr John Moore Mick Wellington ADVISORY COMMITTEE Scott Thomas, Chairman Tom Barry Skip Berkmeyer Chris Kovach Ryan Eckelcamp Tom Portner Curt Rohe

THE METROPOLITAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan O’Neill MVGCSAA Dr. Zach Cutler

Greetings members and welcome to the 2023 season! First week of March is always a busy week...score posting started and registrations opened across all MAGA championships and Amateur Series! The phone lines and email inboxes are a little tired after these first couple days of March. However, we are officially off and running for the 2023 season.

Lot of good things are happening early this spring around the office.

We are excited to welcome our first Corporate Sponsor, CliftonLarsonAllen! CLA’s support will assist us to continue to grow in our core services of handicapping and championships. Thank you to their Chief Geographic Officer, and President of MAGA, Scott Engelbrecht for stepping up as our first corporate sponsor. We are looking to add 2-3 more to the mix, if you or your company have any interest in our Corporate Sponsorship program, please contact us for all the details.

We are less than 2 months away from kicking off the competition season, starting April 29-30 at Old Warson with the 25th playing of the Old Warson Cup. The fields are finalized and we should be making that announcement very soon on who is in to compete for an important early season championship. May will once again be a busy month to start the season, the aforementioned Old Warson Cup is followed closely with the 3rd Robert A. Shogren Cup at Bellerive CC. The 18th Metropolitan Open Championship is back again at Country Club of St. Albans May 17-19 where we look to have another strong field of the top amateurs from the area and golf professionals from around the country.

Recently we launched an advertising program for The Metropolitan, you will see those first ads in this issue. The newsletter continues to grow here in its 10th season and we are reaching almost 25,000 people with each issue! If you have interest in getting in on the advertising program, please reach out to Caroline Buchan at the office who can provide you with all the details to showcase your business right here.

10th season...I just mentioned that above and WOW! We did not know where The Metropolitan was going to go when we started this 10 years ago, but I could not be more pleased with what it has become. I love being out and having members tell me how much they enjoy reading the newsletter, so thank you! Everything we do is done with the focus to continually improve and that is the same with The Metropolitan. We are grateful to have the Mississippi Valley Golf Course Superintendents featured again and we welcome a new feature, Dr. Zach Cutler from Family Golf and Learning who will be providing information on golf fitness and taking care of your body.

So...here wo go with the 2023 season, welcome again and thank you for reading!

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Issue 1 | February 2023

By The Numbers 6 - As in under, as in the number of strokes Andrew

Pranger sailed below par to win the Metropolitan Amateur Championship at Glen Echo Country Club in 2022. Pranger’s final-round score of 3-under 68 took him 6-under for the championship and catapulted him three strokes past runner-up Ryan Sullivan. Most notably, it made Pranger the first three-time winner of the championship. And this summer, when the “Metro” is conducted at Persimmon Woods for the third time, Pranger will have a chance to join David Estes and Kyle Weldon as the only players to win the title in back-to-back years. That accomplishment would also give Pranger a fourth Metropolitan Amateur, which might be one of those achievements that never gets matched.

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- The number of players who have lost their spots on the LIV Tour as the 2023 season begins. That’s right, LIV doesn’t just add players, it also subtracts them. So while the alternate tour recently has gotten press for signing more PGA Tour players like - Thomas Pieters, Danny Lee and Brendan Steele - it also had to make room by dropping players. Those who lost their place on LIV for 2023 are Wade Ormsby, Laurie Canter, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phachara Khongwatmai, Hennie Du Plessis, Adrian Otaegui and Turk Pettit. These players will be competing mostly on the Asian Tour going forward, but it wouldn’t be a major surprise if a few of them found a temporary spot with LIV at some point during the coming season.

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- The number of holes available at “The 21,” a new piece to the Cabot Citrus Farms property, north of Tampa, Fla. The layout actually is two courses in one. That is, an 11-hole short course called ‘Aces’ will feature stops that are no longer than 125 yards. And to go along with that, a more traditional 10-hole routing called ‘Ten’ will present a number of short par 4s to go with one par 5.

Architect Mike Nuzzo is designing the course to complement the renovated, more traditional 18-hole tracks - Cabot Barrens and Cabot Oaks. The project is scheduled to debut in December on the 1,200-acre property formerly known as World Woods Golf Club.

However, when it opens, the new track will not be the first 21-hole course in America - that distinction belongs to Parkersburg Country Club in Vienna, W.V. The par-73 club is formally an 18-hole gig, but it offers three practice holes that members can play all in one round if they so wish.

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- As the 2023 season gets under way, 23 was the number of PGA Tour wins belonging to Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman’s first PGA Tour win came at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship. His most recent, i.e. his 23rd, was at the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina.

McIlroy is 28th on the all-time list of PGA Tour wins and his 24th victory will tie him with Dustin Johnson and Gary Player on that same list. If he gets a 25th win, he’ll be alongside Johnny Miller, Tommy Armour, and Macdonald Smith.

86 - This is the number of strokes that separated Tiger

Woods and the next best player in the four major championships Woods won in succession in 2000-01.

Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots, finishing 12-under par to Ernie Els’ score 3-over par. Following up, Woods won the British Open at St Andrews – becoming the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam – and the PGA Championship at Valhalla in the same year before adding the 2001 Master to complete the “Tiger Slam.” He became the only player in history to capture all four majors in succession. His combined score in those four majors was 86 strokes better than the next best player, as he topped each field by an average of more than five shots.

Improve your Game with the Latest Technology!

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The Metropolitan

2023 MAGA Championship Schedule June 21-22

Junior Amateur Sunset Country Club

July 15-16

SIGA Championship Green Hills Golf Club

Sunset Country Club

April 29-30

Old Warson Cup Old Warson Country Club

Issue 1 | February 2023

September 9

Southern Illinois Amateur Green Hills Golf Club September 15

June 24

9-Hole Championship

August 3-5

Amateur Championship

Ruth Park Golf Club

Persimmon Woods Golf Club

July 10-11

August 28-29

Sobbe Cup Final Matches The Legends Country Club

May 7-8

Shogren Cup

Bellerive Country Club

May 13-14

Women’s Amateur Westborough Country Club

Senior Amateur St. Clair Country Club

St. Clair Country Club

September 25-26

East Side Amateur

Four-Ball Championship

Gateway National Golf Links

Franklin County Country Club May 17-19

Open Championship

October 1

Tony Stevens Cup

Country Club of St. Albans

Persimmon Woods Golf Club

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Rend Lake Golf Club

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The Metropolitan

2023 USGA Qualifiers Schedule

Issue 1 | February 2023

2023 Amateur Series Event #1

Persimmon Woods GC May 1

May 15

US Open (Local)

Gateway National GL

May 24

June 27

US Women’s US Girls’ Junior Open Amateur Bellerive CC

Spencer T. Olin GC

Event #2

Stonewolf GC June 5

Event #1

Event #3

Glen Echo CC June 27

US Junior Amateur

Spencer T. Olin GC

July 17-18

US Amateur Meadowbrook CC

July 20

July 24

US Senior Amateur

Event #4

Lake Forest CC August 7

Sunset Hills CC

Event #5

Far Oaks GC August 21

August 31

US Senior August 14 US Mid-Amateur Women’s Forest Hills CC Amateur Glen Echo CC

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Event #6

September 6

US Amateur Four-Ball Annbriar GC

Register at https://champ-admin.usga.org/player#/apply

Event #6

Annbriar GC Championship

September 5

The Quarry GC October 9-10

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The Metropolitan

Issue 1 | February 2023

Ruth Park: Dependable, Accessible, Soulful The Bogeyman Dan O’Neill

Well, Valentine’s Day is behind us, St. Patrick’s Day is coming fast and

Easter arrives soon after. No question about it, the ball will be in the air soon.

If you need further proof, just check your link to the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association website and there it is - staring you right in the face. The 2023 Championship Schedule has been announced. And if you’re a competitor, you quickly start checking off the must-play events and making out your own schedule.

That exercise always begins with the Metropolitan’s Amateur Championship, i.e. the premier amateur event in town, i.e. the Holy Grail of St. Louis golf. On Aug. 4-6 the championship will be conducted at Persimmon Woods, which has a history of making memorable headlines.

The last time the 54-hole championship was held at Persimmon, Kyle Weldon prevailed by two strokes over Phil Caravia to become the second player to win the title in back-to-back years. David Estes accomplished the feat in 1997-98. They remain a twosome in that category, unless Andrew Pranger - already the only three-time winner of the championship - can repeat his 2022 victory last summer at Old Warson.

Equally memorable was the 2003 event at Persimmon, when Scott Edwards made a marvelous chip to overcome Shawn Jasper on the third playoff hole.

Jasper would have to wait 14 years before he put his name on the Jim Tom Blair Trophy, winning at Norwood Hills in 2017.

Of course, additional highlights dot the menu, including the Old Warson Cup, the Shogren Cup at Bellerive Country Club and the MAGA Open at Country Club of St. Albans. At the same time, Westborough Country Club

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promises to provide a wonderful canvas for the 2023 Women’s Amateur, July 10-11.

But gotta be honest, it does the Bogeyman’s heart especially good to see the MAGA’s 9-Hole Championship is set for Saturday, June 24 at Ruth Park.

This is the first time the venerable University City municipal course has been on the MAGA schedule. For that matter, it’s a good bet it’s the first time the facility has been on any golf association’s schedule.

But don’t misunderstand, the golf course has chops. After all, it was designed by Robert Foulis, a protege of Old Tom Morris at the “birthplace of golf ” - St. Andrews, Scotland. Foulis also did Normandie and the original Forest Park. What’s more, Ruth Park is a veritable Taj Mahal. Not the ivory-white marble mausoleum in the Indian city of Agra, mind you, but the gritty, folksy American blues musician - that Taj Mahal.

L-R: Clarke Morse (Forest Park), Johnny Manion (Sunset Hill), Bennie Richter (Triple A), Francis Schwartz (Midland Valley), Jack Burns (Creve Coeur), Frank Fogertey (Osage), Les Scanlon (Normandie)

Municipal golf is that way, at least, the municipals being built when Ruth Park came along in 1931 were that way. We’re not talking about a “country club for a day,” or its greens fees. We’re talking about something slightly more gritty. We’re talking about a neighborhood joint, dependable, accessible and soulful.

go to die. Truth be told, Bogey spent more time scouring the vegetation, searching for replacements, than hitting golf shots. Ruth Park is where he learned to handicap his game, not by its relationship to par, but by how many balls he lost.

People have grown up around Ruth Park, which was originally called University City Golf Course. They have been introduced to the game there, scratched their itch there, learned their lessons there. It’s not dazzling;, it’s dependable.

Full disclosure: Ol’ Bogey grew up in the neighborhood, graduated from U. City High. Yeah, that’s right - Bing Devine Tennessee Williams, Nelly and the Bogeyman. Hard to believe, right?

Furthermore, Bogey was not the most attentive student in his prep years, securing his high school parchment with a 1.7 - that’s grade-point average, not handicap. But he was smart enough to recognize an opportunity. He and his miscreant entourage often arrived in the early evenings, entered the Ruth Park from grounds from the Swarthmore LN. dead end, and played some fee-free holes, undetected.

He also learned that all golf courses serve a purpose, and 9-hole nuggets like Ruth Park, in the heart of a community, serve it well. People and golf make their first connection at such facilities. Perhaps those same people graduate to something more elaborate. But many feel at home there, and many keep coming back.

“I started this championship to highlight and showcase the 9-hole facilities who support us,” said MAGA executive director Curt Rohe. “Ruth Park has done that through the years. It has been there for us, it has been there for golf and it has been there for the community. This is a way to celebrate that.”

The Bogeyman is certainly happy to see Ruth Park on the schedule - gives him a chance to look for a few more balls.

Of course, the experience wasn’t entirely unconditional. The first few holes at Ruth Park are a slicer’s worst nightmare. Golf balls that go right at Ruth

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The Metropolitan

Issue 1 | February 2023

Learn the Rules of Golf in a Fun Way!

It is Never too Early or too Late to

Become a Volunteer Each Season, we rely on our volunteers to help keep things running smoothly. We always welcome new volunteers. There are multiple ways you can help out whether it be at championsips or course ratings. You do not have to be an expert starting out; we will help guide you when you first begin. Reach out for more information if interested.

Ways You Can Help: Rules Committee:

>Rules Officials >Starters >Scoring Officials

New Rules

effective

1 st Janua ry

2023

Scoring Committee:

>Collect Scores for Live Scoring >Post Scores on Scoreboards >Drive Player Shuttles >etc.

Course Rating Committee:

Co-Authored by Yves C. Ton-That & St. Louis Local Michael Weinhaus

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Order Your Copy TODAY! at www.tomandchip.com

>Forecaddies >Pace of Play Monitors >etc.

Measure and Calculate the difficulty of a course using the Course Rating System Guide set by the USGA

Learn More

Volunteer Today!

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The Metropolitan

GOLF FITNESS HUB

EARLY EXTENSION One of the most common swing faults for amateur golfers is early extension.

Issue 1 | February 2023

Here are a couple exercises to try out!

Early extension is the forward movement of the pelvis and lower body towards the golf ball during the downswing of the golf swing. > This may cause the pelvis and hands to feel stuck at impact. > Early extension typically produces two outcomes: a block or a hook.

THE BODY-SWING CONNECTION > The most common physical characteristics that cause early extension for golfers is the inability to perform a full deep squat, weak glute strength, and the inability to stabilize the lower body. > Improving lower body stability is directly proportional to abdominal and gluteal strength, pelvic musculature control, and the ability to separate the upper body from the lower body.

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Dr. Zach Cutler

Sports Chiropractor and TPI Certified

Family Golf and Learning Center @FGLCPERFORMANCE

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The Metropolitan

Sup’s On: Dan Lloyd CC of St. Albans

This is an exciting time to be a golf course superintendent. Like every

industry, technological innovations have changed how we manage golf courses. The Golf Course Superintendents’ Conference last month was a great opportunity to appreciate all the recent innovations in our industry.

Advances in golf course maintenance have long been derived from our much larger and better-funded big brother of Agriculture. This continues to be true, but over the last few years the steady climb of technological advancements specific to golf course applications seem to have steepened to an exponential surge in new technology. Below I have listed some of the more exciting innovations that have recently come to the turf market: Autonomous Mowers: Wide scale adoption of autonomous mowers is still a few years away, but certain models are available now and some courses in other markets are using them already. Different companies are taking different approaches. Some of the major equipment companies are using their existing machines adapted to operate autonomously. However, right now this approach still requires someone there to keep watch. Other companies have autonomous mowers that operate more like a robotic vacuum cleaner with a hub for every mower that can be located anywhere with power. This version can mow day or night for five hours on a charge with a one-hour recharge time. Some of these models can even pick range balls and mow at the same time.

This technology will be much more useful when the autonomous mowers can mow the more difficult areas on the course. Wide areas like rough and fairways are generally pretty easy to get done because most staff members enjoy these tasks.

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Issue 1 | February 2023

Emerging Technologies for Golf Course Maintenance

I am eager for the day that autonomous mowers can develop to mow bunker faces, edge cart paths, and other labor-intensive and undesirable jobs.

Drones: Many golf course superintendents have been using drones for several years for taking photos and documenting changes. Several companies are now offering the service of daily course flyovers with different lenses that can provide data and maps of soil moisture and NDVI which shows turf stress prior to visible symptoms. These maps can provide an early warning of disease, drought stress, or nutrient deficiencies.

Soil Moisture Sensors: Managing soil moisture is one of the most important aspects of golf course maintenance for both turf health and playability. You may have seen the handheld probes that Superintendents use to monitor soil moisture which have been a useful tool for some time. These probes have become more robust by adding different data that can be measured, and by using GPS and cloud based software to create soil moisture maps to help target irrigation. Recently, manufacturers started introducing soil moisture sensors that can record data and create maps from above ground.

There is a new sensor that can mount on the back of various mowers and take thousands of data points while doing routine mowing and populate the data into a map of the course. Similar technology can also be used on drones, and there are now companies that will fly over your entire course and create a soil moisture map daily to assist with precision irrigation.

GPS: GPS sprayers have been around for a decade, but the technology continues to improve and become more affordable.

Accuracy is reliable and repeatable, the cost savings from reduced overspray are significant. GPS is also being used in many applications

for mapping, measuring, and locating any of the underground infrastructure that is so important to a successful golf course. The exciting next step for GPS sprayers will come as these sprayers can integrate with maps created using drones with specialized lenses that can spot disease, weeds, and nutrient deficiencies and help create a precision application to reduce chemical usage.

Data Collection: Like so many other industries, data collection in turf management continues to expand. The USGA is now promoting

a GS3 “smart ball” that is essentially a

golf ball shaped computer that can

measure greens speed, smoothness,

trueness, and firmness at the same

time by dropping it and rolling it

around. Soil moisture meters have

improved as well, now measuring

more data including salt content and

temperature and saving this data for

future comparisons.

New advancements are also coming in the form of new and improved grass varieties, plant protectants with lower use rates that are better for the environment, new technology for cleaning drain lines and expanding the life span of greens, and advancements in bunker liners to prevent wash outs and contamination of bunker sand among many more.

It will be interesting to see how these new advancements will be adopted.

I expect they will become more powerful and useful as they become more integrated. Soon we could have advanced tools and sensors scouting for data which will then utilized by GPS sprayers and smart irrigation systems to deliver precision irrigation, fertilization, and pest control. This may seem overcomplicated, and it probably is. Success in our field like most will always be a function of hard work, good decision making, and great leadership. However, as expectations continue to rise for course conditions at a time when fewer people are choosing this as a career path and prices are high, we will need to utilize any tools available to meet those expectations

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p U g n i k o o

Rules Center

We’ve all experienced our ball taking off, straight for the trees. Sometimes we get down there, looked around, and do not see the ball. Then, we look up....

Issue 1 | February 2023

Ball Found in Tree

Dear John: What am I supposed to do when my ball gets hung up in a tree (see pictures)?

- OutOnALimb

So, what now? You always have the choice of playing the ball as it lies, which is exactly the route Sergio Garcia decided to take back in 2013 during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Garcia scaled the tree, identified his ball, and

the made the bold decision to play it as it lies. He

then got a club and proceeded to backwards

one-handed knock the ball out of the tree.

Now before you decide to give this a try

yourself, be wary that it did cause some soreness and pain for Garcia’s shoulder, which ultimately led to his withdrawal from the championship. Also, keep in mind the sturdiness of the tree you are looking at before you think you can climb it. So maybe think twice before making your decision.

Taking a different route for a similar situation was Patrick Reed in the Dubai Desert Classic just this year. Though there is some controversy over the entire situation (why marking and identifying your ball correctly is so important), Reed decided scaling the tree to hit was not an option and ultimately declared the ball unplayable. He continued his play of the hole under Rule 19.2c - Lateral Relief, taking a one-stroke penalty under the rule.

There are still more options of relief besides the two taken here in these examples. In fact, you ultimately have 4 options to proceed playing the hole. Read the excerpt from Let’s Get It Right to learn more.

John explains all of your relief options -->

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Dear OutOnALimb: Nice Shot! This situation looks relatively straightforward. The player finds a ball nine feet above the ground and identifies it via their mark on the ball. Or, maybe another player or spectator actually saw the ball go there (Clarifiaction 7.2/1). He or she may play the ball as it lies with an improvised stroke. Alternatively, the player may declare the ball unplayable with the following options per Rule 19.2: 1. Stroke-and-Distance Relief (Rule 19.2a), playing from the spot of their previous stroke under penalty of one stroke. If from teeing area, anywhere within the teeing area and the ball (or another ball) may be teed (Rule 14.6a). If from the general area, a penalty area, or a bunker, the ball (or another ball) must be dropped and played from within the same area, no nearer the hole and within one club-length of the spot of the previous shot (Rule 14.6b). If the spot isn’t known, it must be estimated.

2. Back-on-the-Line Relief (Rule 19.2b) with no limit as to how far behind the ball the the player may drop the ball on the course, dropping and playing the original ball (or another ball) on any area of the course , agaain with a one-stroke penalty.

3. Lateral Relief (Rule 19.2c), dropping and playing the original ball (or another ball) within two club-lengths of a reference point on the ground directly below the ball, no nearer the hole, and on any area of the course with a one-stroke penalty.

This edition of the Rules Center features an excerpt from MAGA Rules Official John Thorman’s e-book Let’s Get It Right

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The Metropolitan

Issue 1 | February 2023

Keeping Up with the USGA

Global Golf Post, the leading international golf news brand is launching GGPWomen, a premium quality golf journalism platform dedicated to covering the women’s golf.

67th President Elected Fred Perpall of Dallas, Texas, was elected to serve as the 67th president of the USGA at the Association’s Annual Meeting in Napa, Calif.

Perpall will serve a three-year term leading the USGA Executive Committee, the all-volunteer policy-making board that provides strategic direction and oversight to the Association’s full-time staff.

As a Member of MAGA, you can get a 20% Discount when you subscribe!

“We talk too much about what separates us, and not enough about what unites us. In golf, we’re a community,” said Perpall. “When we lean in together, when we include more people in the game, not only will the game get better, but our lives will get better, too.”

Use Code: METGA48

to activate your Discount Today! https://www.globalgolfpost.com/ggpwomen-subscription-plans/

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USGA Executive Committee: President Fred Perpall of Dallas, TX; Anthony (Tony) Anderson of Chicago, IL; Chuck Brymer of Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Sinclair Eaddy Jr. of Baltimore, MD; Cathy Engelbert of Berkeley Heights, NJ; Kendra Graham of Winter Park, FL; Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, FL; Leslie Henry of Houston, TX; Bryan Lewis of South Haven, MI; Deborah Platt Majoras of Cincinatti, OH; Michael McCarthy of San Francisco, CA; Courtney Myhrum of Pittsburg, PA; Anthony Petitti of Irvington, NY; Sharon Ritchey of Longboat Key, FL

Play with the Nation Championship Season is just around the corner. Soon golfers from across the nation will be teeing it up for their chance to be considered one of the best golfers in our country. Registration for USGA Championships have begun to open. Do you think you have what it takes to play the best?

Registration OPEN: > 123rd U.S. Open > 43rd U.S. Senior Open > 78th U.S. Women’s Open > 2nd U.S. Adaptive Open > 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open Registration Opens in March: > 74th U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur > 75th U.S. Junior Amateur > 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur > 123rd U.S. Amateur

Registration Opens in April: > 68th U.S. Senior Amateur > 42nd U.S. Mid-Amateur > 36th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur > 61st U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur > 9th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball > 9th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball

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The Metropolitan

Normandie Project Update:

Normandie Remains Open!

Normandie Golf Course will remain open until August 2023, then will close to begin the course reconstruction. If you have been to the course lately, you may have seen some work has already started. Removal of brush and trees began back in December of last year and has continued into this year with tremendous progress being made. Some areas that were once thick brush are now mostly cleared, already transforming the view and providing a glimpse into the future of the course.

Fundraising remains the number one priority during this time. The support from the St. Louis community is vital in this project, so that we can all join together to positively change the lives of the children of North County and beyond.

For a glimpse into the progress being made, click here.

For more information on the Normandie Renovation Project and how you can help, visit https://www.metga.org/nicklaus-and-normandie or contact normandie@metga.org

“The appeal of this project to me was to be involved in an effort that could serve as a catalyst to change needed in our country today, beginning with parts of St. Louis County. Restoring Normandie for a community in need will have a long-lasting positive impact on the lives of youth in St. Louis.”

Course Design for a New Normandie

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-Jack Niclaus on his involvement in Normandie Reimagined

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