MGA Championships

Instilling a competitive golfing tradition has been the Minnesota Golf Association's goal from its very inception. In 1901, the first Amateur Championship concluded the MGA's inaugural meeting at the Meadow Brook Club in Winona. Thus, the MGA began a tradition that has carried into the present day. The MGA Amateur is now one of the largest golfing events in the state. Nearly 900 people enter the championship every year. It takes more than a dozen qualifying sites around the state to accommodate the competitors.

As golf has grown, so has the MGA. The MGA has added 16 additional amateur events throughout the golf season. Each appeals to golfers of different ages and abilities. After the MGA Amateur changed from a match play to stroke play format in 1967, the MGA was without a match-play championship. That changed when the Players' Championship was created and first hosted in 1979 at Interlachen Country Club, Edina.

The MGA annually invites the state's top 17 amateurs to participate along with 47 qualifiers from a field of over 300. Only 64 golfers compete during three days of match-play competition. The strong field always provides for an exciting tournament.

A match-play team event was created for amateur golfers to compete against the state's top professionals. Every year, the MGA and the Minnesota Section of the PGA select teams, including seniors and women, to compete against each other. The tournament, called the MGA-PGA Cup Matches, has been held since 1977. The MGA invites 24 top amateur men and women from around the state. Each MGA team member plays an 18-hole match against a professional and pairs up with a partner in a four-ball match.

For those players who enjoy team competition, the MGA Four-Ball has been an institution since 1962. The Four-Ball is a two-person, 36-hole best-ball competition. The combined USGA Handicap Indexes must not exceed 12.4. Qualifiers from each of the first two days play an additional 18 holes for the title.

In 1988, the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship was introduced at Edina Country Club. It is similar to the Amateur except participants must be 30 years or older and have a USGA Handicap Index of 6.4 or lower. The low 54-hole score determines the winner. It is one of the most popular events, aside from the Amateur, as 240 players start the championship with aspirations of the title. New for Mid-Amateurs, beginning in 2007, is the introduction of the Mid-Players' Championship. This match-play Championship is similar to the Players' Championship with exempt players joining the sectional qualifiers in the starting field of 32.

The MGA Mixed Amateur pairs men and women together to form two-person teams which play a four-ball format the first day and alternate shot, stroke play, the second day. The two scores are combined for a 36-hole total. There are net and gross prizes in both the Mixed and Husband/Wife divisions.

The MGA Net Team Championship includes four-person teams which are divided into two 2-person squads. The format is 36 holes with the low net score of each squad on each hole combined. The event is conducted the Tuesday-Wednesday immediately following Labor Day. Grand View Lodge has hosted this event since its inception with the permanent trophy named The Pines Cup.

The MGA Team Championship is identical to the Net Team, but handicaps are not used to determine the champions.

In order to meet the ever increasing desire for more women's competition, the MGA Women's Mid-Amateur Championship was inaugurated in 1997. Entry is open to women who must be 30 years of age or older and have a USGA Handicap Index of 25.4 or lower.

The MGA has similar championships for seniors. The MGA Senior Amateur has been conducted since 1922 when Somerset Country Club hosted the first championship. The number of very good senior golfers has increased dramatically over the past years, and this is reflected in the level of play in the Association's second oldest championship. In 1999, the MGA Senior Amateur went to a three-day, one-course championship to accommodate the 55-and-over crowd.

In 1974, the MGA Senior Four-Ball became the state's second senior event. The format is identical to the MGA Four-Ball, except the handicap requirement is a combined USGA Handicap Index of 18.4 for the Championship Division (ages 55 and up), 24.4 for the Senior Division (ages 55 to 64) and 36.4 or lower in the Masters Division (ages 65 and over). The MGA awards prizes for low gross scores in the Championship Division, and low gross and low net scores in both Senior and Masters Divisions. Players must indicate at the time of entry in which division wish to compete.

Another of the Association's newer championships, the MGA Senior Players' Championship, premiered in 2000. This is the senior version of the Players' Championship, with exempt players joining the sectional qualifiers in the starting field of 32. Players must be 55 years of age or older and have a USGA Handicap Index of 7.4 or lower.