MetropolitanMad
The Metropolitan championship season officially kicked off with the Shogren Cup: a competitive battle between the best Metropolitan amateurs and Gateway PGA professionals. What started as cold and windy, turned into a beautiful day at Bellerive Country Club for the two sides to face off. Each team is comprised of 14 players with 4 players in the senior division. Day one began with four-ball matches and concluded with foursome matches. Day 2 consisted of the singles matches. All players played each round.
In the four-ball competition, all sides started on Hole 1 and kept their matches close for the majority of the morning. Through nine holes, Team Gateway led 3 matches, Team Metropolitan led 3 matches, and one match was tied. Both sides fought hard in the final stretch of their matches. The strongest match of this round for Team Metropolitan was Tony Gumper and Ryan Eckelkamp, who came out in dominating fashion to win 5 & 3 over Ryan McClintock and Gideon Smith. At the end of the four-ball round, Team Metropolitan had 5.5 points and Team Gateway had 1.5 points.
After a quick lunch and turn around, the sides were back on the course for the foursomes round. This proved to be a fruitful afternoon for Team Metropolitan. Playing alternate shot, the sides decided to send the teams off of both holes 1 and 10. Neeman and Moore for Team Metropolitan took on Tucker and Hausmann for Team Gateway beginning on Hole 1. Coming out hot, Neeman and Moore were 4 Up through 5, and got to 6 Up through 11 before closing out the match 4 & 3. On the other side of the course, Lovett and Berkmeyer were proving their grit in a 5 & 4 win over Whitfield and Fogt. Migdal teamed up with Niezing for this round to show their strength. The pair dominated their round in a 7 & 5 victory over Auping and Moomey. The final match of the day saw Pranger and Weaver take on Szyhowski and Schulte. Team Metropolitan once again proved their power in a 6 & 4 win. Team Metropolitan earned 6 points and Team Gateway earned 1 point in the foursomes. At the end of the day, the point totals were Team Metropolitan with 11.5 points and Team Gateway with 2.5 points.
The final matches of the 5th Robert A. Shogren Cup were another strong showing from the Metropolitan amateurs. Coming into the final round, Team Metropolitan’s held 11.5 points, leaving them in need of only 2.5 points to retain or 3 points to win. Team Gateway on the other hand would need 12 points to steal the trophy away from the amateurs. As the 3 time defending champions, Team Metropolitan was looking to make history.
In the second match of the day, Ryan Eckelkamp of Team Metropolitan faced Blake Sharamitaro of Team Gateway. The pair went back and forth until Eckelkamp went 2 up on the back nine. The match went to hole 17 where Eckelkamp would win Team Metropolitan’s first point of the day 2 & 1. Four matches behind, Sam Migdal was taking on JD Auping. Migdal got off to a hot start and never looked back. Through nine holes Migdal was 5 Up and a birdie on Hole 10 got him to 6. Captain Migdal clenched Team Metropolitan’s second point in his 6 & 5 win. Three groups back from Migdal was the Metropolitan’s Peter Weaver facing the Gateway’s Matt Ginder. Weaver dominated his match, making the turn 6 Up. He nailed a putt from across the green on Hole 10 to get to 7 Up. Then on Hole 12 - playing as par 3 this week - Weaver stuck his tee shot into 2 feet of the hole to win the match 8 & 6 and secure Team Metropolitan’s third and Cup winning point. This round by Weaver is the largest match win margin in Shogren Cup history.
In the final round, Team Metropolitan gained 10.5 points while Team Gateway gained 3.5 points. By the end of the Metropolitan madness, the amateurs would walk away with 22 total points. This is the most points earned by a team in the Shogren Cup, and the largest winning margin yet. Team Metropolitan lifts the Shogren Cup for the fourth consecutive year.
All Metropolitan Point Winning Matches
Four-Ball
Migdal + Neeman
Pranger + Berkmeyer
Gumper + Eckelkamp
Kreikemeier + Skornia
Niezing + Moore
Sullivan + Kovach
Foursomes
Neeman + Moore
Berkmeyer + Lovett
Migdal + Niezing
Kreikemeier + Skornia
Sullivan + Kovach
Pranger + Weaver
U.S. Womens Open Qualifier
n the first USGA area Qualifier of the year, we saw 69 young women take their shot to get into the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally field. Golfers had to complete 36 holes in one day and be one of the top two finishing players to earn their place at Erin Hills. Play began at 7:30am at St. Clair Country Club. It was a full day of golf with sunny skies and windy conditions. There were 8 professionals in this year’s qualifier field, leaving 61 amateurs hoping to prove they were just as good. This was a relatively young group of golfers, with an average age of 20 and approximately 30 universities and colleges represented.
As the day kicked off, players tried to take advantage of the nice weather conditions and post a good first round score to sit in a comfortable position going into the afternoon. Following the first round, there were many golfers within three strokes of the lead. Abbey Schutte of Goodyear, Arizona and University of Arkansas golfer, held the number one spot on the leaderboard at Even (E) par. Four players sat behind her at one-over (+1) par. These four players were Ava Merrill of Johns Creek, Georgia and Vanderbilt University, Kendall Todd of Litchfield Park, Arizona and University of Arkansas, Patience Rhodes of Bath, England and Arizona State University, and Lauren Nguyen of Houston, TX and Texas A&M. Three Missouri golfers were two-over (+2) par and tied for fifth. This included Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, MO and Michigan State, Audrey Rischer of Columbia, MO and University of Oklahoma, and Reagan Zibilski of Springfield, MO and University of Arkansas. Joining them at two-over was Maelynn Kim of Katy, Texas and a University of Houston golfer. Five golfers sat tied for ninth at three-over (+3) par following round one. This five were Nanami Nakashima of Manhattan, Kansas and Kansas State University, Lyla Louderbaugh
of Buffalo, MO and Kansas University, Pimkwan Chookaew of Ames, Iowa and Iowa State University, Ellie Roth of Plano, Texas and the University of North Texas, and Brielle Mapanao of Quakers Hill, Australia and University of Illinois.
The players quickly grabbed some food to eat and got back out on the course for round two. As the day moved forward, the wind continued to pick up and play a role in the game of these golfers. With only two qualifying spots available, players knew they would need to manage their game and minimize mistakes.
Brookie Biermann did just that. Biermann improved upon her first round to post a second round score of one-under par. This brought her total to one-over (+1) par. She then had to sit and wait to see if anyone on the course could match or beat her score. A few got close, but none were able to shake Biermann off the top. Three players came in behind at two-over (+2) par. These players were Lauren Nguyen, Patience Rhodes, and Ava Merrill. The three had to go into a playoff to determine who would claim the final qualifying spot, first alternate, and second alternate positions. On the first playoff hole, Nguyen made a birdie while the other two players made par to clinch the final qualifying spot. Rhodes and Merrill continued on. On the fourth playoff hole with the daylight barely hanging on, Merill came out on top to earn the first alternate position, leaving Rhodes with the second alternate position.
Sobbe Cup Draw
The time for the annual battle of the Metropolitan Member Clubs has arrived. Each year, area clubs build a team of its members to go head-to-head against another club in the Thomas O. Sobbe Cup. Teams are comprised of seven amateurs and one professional who is the representative leader from the club. When teams meet to play their matches, they must play 1 professional match, 2 singles scratch matches, 1 singles handicap match, 1 four-ball handicap match, and 1 senior four-ball handicap match. These match divisions allow an array of players from each club the opportunity to participate on their club’s team and showcases the different levels within.
51 teams have signed up to try their fate in this club match-up with 6 clubs pulling together 2 teams. There are 13 Public course teams - 3 of which are 9-Hole facilities - and 44 Private course teams. The first round of this Cup is a round-robin group stage. Teams are drawn into one of 17 Groups along with two more clubs. After playing each of the other teams, the club with the most points will earn the top seed position in their group and move on to the knockout stage. Teams will then earn knockout stage rankings based on the points they accumulated during the group stage. With 17 teams and 16 spots in the knockouts, the two lowest ranked teams will have to play off for the final spot in the Round of 16.
On Thursday March 27, we gathered to have the group division draw. All drawings were done by a random generator and crosschecked to ensure that no team was drawn into a group with a club they have played in the group stage in the past two years. The public clubs were drawn first and the private clubs second. The first round of draws placed clubs as the first team into each of the divisions. Once each division had one club, the second round of draws were placed into each division in a reverse order from group 17 to 1. Then the final round drew the final club into each division from group 1 to 17. The results of the draw are as follows:
Heading to the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally is qualifying Medalist and Low Amateur Medalist Brooke Biermann along with qualifier Lauren Nguyen. Should there be a player unable to attend, Ava Merrill followed by Patience Rhodes will be the alternates that can be called upon to fill the position.
Final Results
The two-time defending Champions Glen Echo Country Club are back again. As are Westborough Country Club and Bogey Hills Country Club, who each lost to Glen Echo in the finals in 2024 and 2023, respectively. Thirteen of the participating clubs have won in years gone by, while the remaining forty-four are looking to play their club’s name onto the Sobbe Cup Trophy for the first time. This year marks the 32nd playing of the Sobbe Cup.
Another successful year for Metropolitan representation at the Drive, Chip, & Putt National Final at Augusta National this year. Joshua Hooper of Wildwood, MO made his way to Augusta, Georgia this past weekend after qualifying to be a finalist in the Boys 7-9 division last fall.
Joshua practices and plays out of Whitmoor Country Club. He is a young rising talent in this area and has a passion for the game. His journey to get to the final was a hard fought fight. Joshua began this adventure at Oak Brook Golf Club in the Local Qualifier where he scored 102 points to finish in the top spot and move on. Then, he competed in the Sub-Regional Qualifier at Sunset Hills Country Club, earning 135 points to once again finish in the top spot to move on. At the Regional and Final Qualifying, Joshua travelled to TPC Deere Run where he scored 109 points to be tied for 1st. This led to a playoff. Joshua dug deep to send his putt within 1 foot of the hole and clinch the ticket to Augusta.
Joshua and his family travelled down to Augusta in an exciting time, and he was ready. Joshua has spent the months leading up to this diligently practicing and it showed. Starting with the Drive portion of the competition, Joshua sailed his ball to 186.2 yards in the first attempt and then 197.7 yards in the second. The second attempt would count as his longest and place him in third place with 8 points. Then it was time for the Chip portion of the competition. Joshua’s first attempt stopped 8 feet 9 inches away from the hole and his second would stop 3 feet 8 inches from the hole. These combined to total 12 feet 5 inches, placing him fourth in the chip segment to earn 7 more points. The 8 points from the Drive and 7 points from the Chip totalled 15 points, and put Joshua in a tie for second going into the final leg. The race was tight as the division worked its way through the Putt portion of the competition. Joshua was second to last to putt. The first putt was a 30 footer, slightly uphill and Joshua rolled his ball within 6 feet 5 inches. Then the only thing left to face was a 15 foot,
slightly downhill putt. Joshua went through his pre-shot routine, took a breath, stepped up, and sent his putt 6 inches away from the hole. His total for both putts was 6 feet 11 inches. He then had to wait for the final competitor and leader to putt. It came down to the final putt of the day for the group and by the smallest of margins, Joshua’s putts total was shorter. He finished second in the Putt portion and added another 9 points to his total.
To win a national championship on the 18th green at Augusta National was a dream come true and the best day of my life. I can’t thank DCP enough and Augusta National for making this possible. “ “
With a total of 24 points, Joshua Hooper became the 2025 Boys 7-9 Drive, Chip, & Putt Champion. For the second year in a row, a Metropolitan junior golfer is bringing home the hardware. Following his win at the Regional Qualifier, Joshua was able to get a dog that he had wagered with his parents beforehand. In his final post-win interview, they asked him what he had asked for should he win at Augusta. His response: for tickets to see the St. Louis Blues. He definitely earned those tickets! Joshua was presented his trophy by 2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott.
Joshua’s dad, Josh Hooper, was so proud of his son and has said, “To experience this with my son and family in attendance will be a day I will never forget, it was worth every second of driving him back and forth to practice and play a game he truly loves. The way we were treated by the DCP staff and Augusta National was 1st class all around. To any parents out there that have a kid interested in golf just take them and you never know what kind of opportunities will come from it.”
Following the completion of the Sunday competition, the Drive, Chip, & Putt competitors and their families were able to attend the Monday and Tuesday practice rounds of the Masters. This gave the kids the opportunity to take in the scenes and see some of their favorite players, while getting to envision themselves back to play the course one day. This was a fun and successful trip for the Hoopers. Joshua’s talent was undeniable, and he will always be able to say he won at Augusta. Congratulations to Joshua Hooper and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for this young golfer.
Helping
Loss of Posture and Mind-Body Connection:
• Loss of posture is defined as a change in your body’s original set up angles during your golf swing.
• Timing, balance and rhythm can be affected by loss of posture.
• The ability to pass the overhead deep squat and toe touch test are very important in being able to perform proper set up position and maintain your posture throughout your swing.
• The ability to separate your upper body from your lower body allows your shoulders to rotate around your spine without changing your original posture.
• Lastly, the ability to stabilize your spine angle during your swing is directly proportional to the strength and stability of the core musculature.
Here are two links that provide exercise videos to help your mobility, strength, and power:
The Importance of Golf Movement Assessments:
• Golf movement assessments pinpoint areas of the body that are limited in regard to range of motion. Combining mobility assessments, with power and swing assessments, gives medical professionals and teaching professionals a full view on how well a golfer’s body moves.
• Golf movement assessments all medical professionals and personal trainers to create personalized treatment and exercise programs for exactly what you need work on.
• The mobility, stability, power, and swing results are then combined with the golfer’s goals, to create the most personalized program for each and every golfer.
• Golf movements assessments allows golfers to train most effectively while keeping engaged with the PGA Teaching Instructors.
Youtube Instagram
Dr. Zach Cutler, DC Owner of Golf and Training Institute; Sports Chiropractor; Titleist Performance Institute Specialist
Up Next for the Metro Deadlines
Keeping Up with the USGA
Golf’s New Narrative
Dave Aznavorian has worked on the USGA’s behalf in Washington, D.C., on several editions of National Golf Day, a May event in which a consortium of industry representatives joins forces to help bolster the game’s standing with Congress. Aznavorian, the USGA’s senior director of transformational initiatives, admits that there are times when the group finds the going tough in its education efforts on behalf of the game with members of the House and Senate.
“Think about it – when you drive on the Beltway around D.C., you see several golf courses bearing the words ‘Country Club,’ with gates, walls or fences around them,” said Aznavorian. “D.C. isn’t alone in that regard; many private clubs are situated close to major metropolitan areas. For thousands of people who drive past those clubs on their daily commute, that helps form a perception that golf is a game for the few and not the many, that it’s more private than public.”
If you’re reading this, you are most likely a golfer, and you are also most likely proud to identify yourself as one and to be an advocate for the game. Its adherents are well aware that the “game for a lifetime” has a knack for parceling out life lessons even as it provides meaningful interactions with players of varied backgrounds, all engaged in a common pursuit that yields health benefits.
There’s much more to golf, of course, including its long association with charitable endeavors and its role in providing critical open spaces where natural habitat and wildlife can thrive. The game is on a certified roll the past few years, spurred in part by its popularity as a pandemic-friendly pursuit – remember how perfectly its individual nature and those open spaces lent themselves to the requirements of social distancing (provided, of course, that we rode solo in our carts)?
Still, golf continues to have its fair share of detractors. If you love the game, it helps to have information at hand when you hear the occasional disparaging comment from someone who is either ill-informed or holds long debunked views about golf.
Here are some facts that will arm golfers with the latest information and help dispel some common myths:
• 73 percent of the USA’s nearly 16,000 courses are public
• Courses use less than 1% of the water drawn on a daily basis in the U.S.
• Golf courses take up less than one tenth of 1% of total U.S. land
• Golf gives back $4.6 billion annually to communities and charitable causes
• The fastest growing groups are youths, females and people of color
• The 18-34 age group leads the way in
• on-course golfers
• Rejoice! The positive vibes have already begun
HSBC Women’s World Championship
Lydio Ko
Blue Bay LPGA
Rio Takeda
Ford Championship
Hyo Joo Kim
T-Mobile Match Play
Madelene Sagstrom
JM Eagle LA Championship
Ingrid Lindblad
The Chevron Championship
Mao Saigo
Australian Women’s Classic
Manon De Roey
Ford Women’s NSW Open
Mimi Rhodes
Joburg Ladies Open
Mimi Rhodes
Investec SA Women’s Open
Perrine Delacour
Heritage Classic
James Conron
The National Tournament
Harrison Crowe
World of Golf
Cognizant Classic
Joe Highsmith
Arnold Palmer Invitational
Russell Henley
Puerto Rico Open
Karl Vilips
THE PLAYERS
Rory McIlroy
Valspar Championship
Viktor Hovland
Texas Children’s Houston Open
Min Woo Lee
Valero Texas Open
Brian Harman
Masters
Rory McIlroy
RBC Heritage
Justin Thomas
Corales Puntacana Championship
Garrick Higgo
Zurich Classic
Andrew Novak+Ben Griffin
VISA Argentina Open
Justin Suh
Astara Chile Classic
Logan McAllister
Club Car Championship
Jeremy Gandon
LECOM Suncoast Classic
Neal Shipley
Veritex
Bank Championship
Johnny Keefer
Investec SA Open
Dylan Naidoo
Joburg Open
Calum Hill
Porsche Singapore Classic
Richard Mansell
Hero Indian Open
Eugenio Chacarra
Volvo China Open
Ashun Wu
Hainan Classic
Marco Penge
Kolkata Challenge
Joshua Berry
Delhi Challenge
Quim Vidal
UAE Challenge
Renato Paratore
Abu Dhabi Challenge
Renato Paratore
Atlantic Beach Classic
Laetitia Beck
IOA Golf Classic
Gina Kim
IOA Championship
Briana Chacon
Cologuard Classic
Steven Alker
Hoag Classic
Miguel Angel Jimenez
The Galleri Classic
Steven Allen
James Hardie PFHOF Invitational
Angel Cabrera
Mitsubishi Electric Classic
Jerry Kelly
Atlanta Drive Club
Hong Kong
Sergio Garcia
Singapore
Joaquin Niemann
Miami
Marc Leishman
Mexico City
Joaquin Niemann
Keep Up with Normandie
As we continue to make strides in the renovation of Normandie Golf Club, we want to keep everyone updated on what is happening. Throughout the renovations, we are taking video and picture footage of the work that is being done. Pictures will be uploaded to Flickr and videos will be posted on Youtube periodically. Click Below to see the videos and pictures. Check back often for visual updates!
“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.”
-Jack Nicklaus
