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 CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATIONFor Everyone Who Plays the Game
| | | For Immediate Release | October 2, 2020 |
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| | | SENIOR TANDEMS EMBARK ON AURORA FOR FINAL CDGA CHAMPIONSHIP OF 2020 |
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| | Friday, October 2, 2020 -
LEMONT, Ill. - Following the playing of three CDGA-administered championships already this year, the season will culminate when 44 duos age 55-and-up converge for the 5th CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Aurora Country Club Oct. 5-8.
FORMAT
The championship begins with 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, Oct. 5 to determine the low 16 teams that will advance to the match-play bracket. Match play gets underway with the Round of 16 on Tuesday morning. Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches are slated for Wednesday, with the Championship match taking place on Thursday morning.
Designed to emulate the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, each player plays their own ball. The low gross score on each hole counts as a team’s score.
ABOUT THE FIELD
There were no qualifiers held for this event, with the field consisting of 44 pairs. Eligibility was open to any CDGA member with a current USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 10.4 and who has reached their 55th birthday on or before the start of the event. Partners are not required to be from the same club.
Players to Watch
Vance Antoniou (North Barrington / Butler National GC) and Mark Esposito (Elgin / Blackberry Oaks GC) were the runner up pair in last year’s CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball, falling in the title tilt 3 and 2. The duo has reached match play in three of this event’s four previous iterations.
Brien Gerber (Bolingbrook / Springbrook GC) and Brad Kay (Arlington Heights / Ivanhoe Club) emerged victorious in last year’s CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball at Calumet Country Club. Kay also has an individual title on his resume, claiming the CDGA Senior Amateur at Itasca Country Club in 2018.
Tom Kearfott (El Paso / El Paso GC) and Tim Sheppard (East Peoria / Pekin CC) are two-time winners of this event, earning hardware in 2016 at Crystal Tree Golf & Country Club and 2018 at Indian Hill Club. Individually, the duo has combined to win three Illinois State Senior Amateur titles, including Sheppard’s triumph last month at Mt. Hawley Country Club.
Ted Pecora (Winnetka / Bob O’Link GC) and Ron Waytula, Jr. (McHenry / McHenry CC) are partnering up for the inaugural time in search of their first victories in CDGA-administered events. Waytula, Jr. came in second in the 2018 CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball at Indian Hill Club, while Pecora has finished second in both the Illinois State Senior and CDGA Senior Amateurs.
Others to Watch
Anthony Cascino (Palos Park / Olympia Fields CC) and Tom Destefani (Western Springs / Village Links of Glen Ellyn) advanced to CDGA Senior Four-Ball match play for the third time in four years in 2019, a run that includes a semifinal appearance in 2017.
John Cullen (Northbrook / Sportsman’s CC) and Dennis Newman (Algonquin / Kemper Lakes GC) reached the semifinals of the 2019 CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball, eventually falling to the Antoniou/Esposito duo.
David Feder (Lincolnshire / Conway Farms GC) and Guy Lay (Northbrook / Bob O’Link GC) have qualified for match play in each of the last two CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championships. Feder is coming off a third-place finish in last month’s Illinois State Senior at Mt. Hawley.
Tom Fox (Palos Heights / Beverly CC) and Craig McDonnell (Evergreen Park / CDGA Member’s Club) were the stroke play medalists in last year’s event at Calumet Country Club, firing a 4-under 67 to earn the No. 1 seed.
ABOUT THE COURSE
Originally designed by famed architect Tom Bendelow, Aurora Country Club opened its doors in 1914. The 2005 Illinois Golf Hall of Fame inductee constructed the Aurora track during his time as Spalding’s Director of Golf Course Development. The course was redesigned in 1935 by World Golf Hall of Famer A.W. Tillinghast.
Beginning with the Illinois State Amateur Championship in 1964, Aurora has hosted a scattering of events which featured the area’s top amateur golfers in its history. Three CDGA Pro-Junior events, the 1981 CDGA Amateur Championship and the CDGA Mixed and Super Senior Amateur Championships in 2017 and 2018, respectively, have navigated Aurora Country Club. The course is set to play at 6,462 yards for the championship with a par of 72.
LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP
The team of Brad Kay and Brien Gerber hoisted the hardware at the 4th CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Calumet Country Club. The victory was the duo’s first in the event. Consistent play on the front nine gave the Kay-Gerber pairing a 1-up lead against Vance Antoniou and Mark Esposito at the turn following an eagle at No. 9. Pars at the 11th, 14th and 16th holes earned the team a 3 and 2 victory. | | | Chicago District Golf Association
The Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) is the regional governing body for amateur golf in Illinois and parts of three other states. The CDGA services more than 400 clubs and 80,000 individual golfers. Golfers receive member offers, a USGA Handicap Index® and competitive playing opportunities, while clubs receive USGA rating and measuring services, turfgrass diagnostics and educational seminars. Midwest Golf House and its Three-Hole Sunshine Course are home to the CDGA Foundation, which annually serves more than 1,000 individuals with special needs and wounded veterans while also bringing playing opportunities to youth golfers. Founded on March 18, 1914, the CDGA is one of the largest and oldest golf associations in the United States.
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