The Met Golfer - June 2008

champion had no idea how emotional winning on the Champions Tour in New York could be.

Nielsen (pictured above) finished at 14-under-par 199 for a two-stroke victory over Loren Roberts. Nielsen, who turned 54 on the event’s first day, had won 32 titles on smaller tours and PGA of America-sanctioned events, including the New York State Open in 1985 and 1989.

“Walking up that 18th fairway, I couldn’t have gotten a word out,” said Nielsen, who won $225,000. “The people were giving me a nice ovation. Then I got up near the green and saw a couple of buddies standing there and I was pretty choked up. I had to get the tears out of my eyes and two-putt from 10 feet, and I did.”

Last year as the third consecutive year a player carded his first Champions Tour win at the Commerce Bank Championship. John Harris won in 2006 and Ron Streck won in 2005. “John Harris is one my best friends out here, and to follow in his footsteps is pretty special,” Nielsen said. “He was waiting for me at 18. I didn’t used to be an emotional guy. I guess I’m getting to be an old softie. To see your peers hang around, though – they know how hard it is.”

In addition to the Commerce Bank Championship’s reputation for exciting golf and first-time winners, the event is also known for outstanding community support and volunteer involvement. More than 600 volunteers pour their personal time and effort into the event every year, providing functions that include scoring, leaderboards, course marshaling, admissions, players transportation, administration, hospitality and media services. Many of the volunteers have served the event since its inception, and were recruited to provide key functions for recent U.S. Opens at Bethpage, Shinnecock Hills and Winged Foot.

Keeping in the charitable spirit, the Commerce Bank Championship also benefits Schneider Children’s Hospital and the Boomer Esiason Foundation. The Schneider family has been a longtime supporter of the event, and Boomer Esiason has served as an honorary chairman. ●

ABOUT THE
COURSE

Eisenhower Park has a long history of hosting top competition. The legendary Walter Hagen won the 1926 PGA Championship on the Red Course was part of Salisbury Country Club. The Red Course would go on to become part of the three-course, public Eisenhower Park facility. In addition to the Commerce Bank Championship, the Red Course has also played host to the Metropolitan PGA Section’s annual Junior/Senior tournament for the past four years.

The Red Course was designed by Devereaux Emmet. The Garden City resident is not as famous as his architectural contemporaries, such as A. W. Tillinghast, Emmet was one of the most prolific golf course designers of the early 1900s. Emmet also designed Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and Long Island’s Garden City Golf Club, as well as Nassau Country Club, Rockaway Hunting Club and Seawane Club. The Red Course has been lengthened over time to provide a challenge to today’s best players, but the course remains a player- and spectator-friendly course with short distances between tees and greens, and is easy to walk.