28th Amateur Championship Returns to St. Albans 24 Years Later
The 2018 edition of the Metropolitan Amateur Championship returns to the Country Club of St. Albans for the 2nd time, 24 years later. Jim Holtgrieve captured his one Amateur Championship on the Lewis & Clark Course in 1994. Holtgrieve would need overtime to defeat Don Bliss (1991 & 1993 Champion) and David Estes (1997 & 1998 Champion) in a playoff that year.
St. Albans has continued to perpetuate championship golf since 1994 however. The Lewis & Clark Course has been home to the Metropolitan Open the last 13 years.
Shawn Jasper returns as the defending champion, winning in 2017 at Norwood Hills Country Club. His victory was a big return to amateur golf for Francis Howell and Mizzou graduate, having played several years in the professional ranks. Jasper has had some success at St. Albans, twice winning the Open Championship in 2010 and 2011 while a professional.
“I’m very excited to go back to St. Albans where I have great memories of my Open championship victories and close calls during my professional days, “ Jasper recalled. “The Lewis & Clark Course is always a fun course to play and I am looking forward to the challenge of trying to repeat as the Amateur champion.”
Jasper would win by two shots over Ryan Eckelkamp to have his name forever etched on the Jim Tom Blair Trophy. Eckelkamp, who had a fantastic 2017, would go on to finish second in the 2017 Player of the Year race to Sam Migdal.
A field of 112 of the region’s best amateurs will tee it up on the 7,102-yard Par 71 layout. Along with Jasper, three other former champions are in the field: Skip Berkmeyer (2009); Jimmy Siegfried (2015) and Drew Pranger (2016).
“This is truly remarkable for St. Albans to host our two most significant championships in the same year, the Open and the Amateur,” remarked Executive Director, Curt Rohe. “They were the very first member club of MAGA back in 1992 when Tom, Mike Corry and Jim Holtgrieve had this vision of servicing the game in this region and they are a champion when it comes to hosting championship golf in St. Louis.”
Live scoring updates will be provided throughout the championship online at METGA.ORG. Groupings and Starting Times for Rounds 1 and 2 are available on the website. After 36-holes of play Thursday and Friday, the field will be cut to the low 40 scores and ties for the final round Saturday.
The Championship is free for the public to attend to see some of the best amateurs from the St. Louis Metropolitan region compete on one of St. Louis’s premier golf courses.
If you should have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact Curt Rohe, Executive Director, via email at /Blog/28th-amateur-championship-returns-to-st-albans-24-years-later or phone at (314) 567-MAGA.
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