2022 SENIOR AMATEUR PREVIEW
The 64th New Jersey Senior Amateur Championship presented by NJM Insurance Group is set to get underway at Alpine Country Club on Monday, August 22nd and conclude on the 23rd.
It will be the first time in 64 years that the Senior Amateur will visit the Northern New Jersey staple. Also home of the 2008 and 1989 New Jersey Open, Alpine will provide tough test of golf to 132 male golfers aged 55 and above.
The championship is set for Monday and Tuesday when the 36-hole, stroke-play tournament is played over the par-72, 6,400 yard venue. After the completion of 18 holes, the field is cut to the low 40 scorers plus ties for the final round.
2021 Senior Amateur Champion Adam Armagost highlights the 132 player field. Last year, Armagost came from behind, shooting a final round 1-under par 70 to hoist the C.H. Smith Trophy at Trenton Country Club.
Also in the field are five former champions, including Adam Kugler (2020), Norman Lewis (2019), Anthony Fioretti (2018), Bill Charpek (2015, 17) and Tom Dicinti (2010).
A pair of former champions in Charpek and Lewis are a part of the NJSGA’s ‘Featured’ Group, which will highlight their 1st and 10th holes on Facebook Live. Follow @NJSGA1900 on Facebook to follow along. Charpek, Lewis and Joseph Roeder of Little Mill Country Club are set to tee off on No. 1 at 2:10 p.m. ET
Kugler, 64, will seek a second victory, this year, at his home course. In 2020, Kugler won the 62nd edition, at Suburban Golf Club, another one of Tillinghast’s creations.
“Like Alpine, it’s a Tillinghast course with a lot of trees and firm and fast greens. I felt comfortable out there,” Kugler said of Suburban. Dating back to 1976, Kugler has claimed a whopping 25 club championships at Alpine.
One of the most recent NJSGA champions, Tom Hyland, winner of the 100th Father & Son Championship presented by McRae Capital Management is also featured in the field. The Little Mill Country Club product won on August 16 at Metedeconk National Golf Club alongside his son, Michael.
Alpine was designed and built by A.W. Tillinghast in 1928. A group of wealthy men from finance and politics approached the decorated golf architect to design and build a golf course on a sizeable space of land that bordered the towns of Alpine, Demarest and Cresskill. The founders chose the name Aldecress for their club, combining the names of those towns. Located on the western slope of the Palisades less than a mile from the Hudson River, the terrain was extremely rocky and covered in dense forest.
Trees tower and line the property, offering an uncommon setup that fits both the skilled golfer but also the inexperienced golfer.
Along with its unique property, Alpine is highlighted by hilly terrain and water hazards spread sporadically throughout.
In 2005, Alpine hired golf course architect Ron Forse to modify multiple areas of the course, including rebuilding bunkers, restoring others that were lost over time and adding several new back teeing grounds. Its main purpose was to return to Tillinghast’s original vision and improve the overall turf quality and landscape of the club.
Home to six NJSGA championships in the past, Alpine is set to host its first NJSGA championship since the 2008 Open Championship, when Mark McCormick hoisted the C.W. Badenhausen Champions Trophy.
Alpine Country Club
Course Map
PAST SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONS
Official Pairings & Starting Times (Round 1)
For updated pairings & starting times for Round 2, check back at njsga.org following Round 1
NJSGA FEATURED GROUP
In the first round of the Senior Amateur Championship, the NJSGA will follow each shot of this 'Featured' group on Facebook Live as they play No. 1 and No. 10. The Charpek, Lewis and Roeder group will tee off at 2:10 p.m. ET off No. 1. Follow @NJSGA1900 on Facebook to follow the action.