Sleepy Hollow Country Club to host 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship (2023)

Sleepy Hollow Country Club, home to the infamous Kevin “Sprech Effect” Sprecher and, arguably, the most beautiful Par 3 in the Northeast, announced yesterday that it will be hosting the 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jon Cavalier (@linksgems) on Jul 13, 2019 at 7:19pm PDT

Commenting on Sleepy Hollow, USGA tournament director for Mid-Amateur Championship Bill McCarthy stated: “When I paid a site visit, I was just wowed by the place. I grew up on Long Island and worked for the MGA for seven years, so I know the club’s history really well. I was just overwhelmed by the restoration. Their desire to host and showcase the new Sleepy Hollow was really well received by us.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Eric Sedransk (@member4aday) on Aug 17, 2019 at 9:30pm PDT

For those unfamiliar with the event, the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship was created in 1981 and has since developed into the leading annual golf tournament for post-college aged amateurs looking to compete on a national level. Indeed, the Mid-Am often features accomplished amateur players from many walks of life, including golf club salesmen, firefighters and investment bankers.

To be eligible to compete, competitors must (1) be at least 25 years old as of the opening day of the main tournament and (2) have a USGA handicap index of 3.4 or lower, as opposed to 2.4 or lower for the U.S. Amateur. In case you happen to qualify, it’s also worth noting that the field is limited to 264 players. Last year, there were 4,751 entries. After 2 days the field is narrowed down to merely 64 players for match play to determine the winner.

Some other noteworthy courses that have hosted the Mid-Am include Bellerive Country Club (host of the 2018 PGA Championship), Hazeltine National Golf Club (host of the 2016 Ryder Cup), Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (specifically, the Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails courses) and The Kiawah Island Club (specifically, the River and Cassique courses).

With respect to Sleepy Hollow, C.B. Macdonald designed the original 18-hole golf course in 1911, with Seth Raynor on the ground as engineer. In the late 1920s, AW Tillinghast expanded the course to 27 holes, which resulted in the 18-hole “Upper” and 9-hole “Lower” courses. Nearly 100 years later, the course was due for some attention, and Gil Hanse turned out to be the perfect man for the job. With Northeast landmarks like Winged Foot, Merion and Fishers Island all benefiting from Hanse’s touches, it was no surprise that Sleepy Hollow was named the #1 among courses renovated in the past 5 years in 2019 by GOLF Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Golf Digest (@golfdigest) on Sep 3, 2019 at 1:20pm PDT

But after just seeing a few pictures of new Sleepy Hollow, it’s really not that hard to see why.

Cover Image Via Instagram