Springfield City Amateur Golf Championship to celebrate 100th anniversary

Jul. 9—The Springfield City Amateur Golf Championship marks a big milestone later this month with the commencement of its 100-year anniversary championship.

The championship first began in 1922 and consisted of players from the Beaver Valley, Snyder Park and Springfield Country Club courses. In total, 16 players participated in the championship initially. The 16 players consisted of five from each of the three courses and one additional player from Snyder Park.

From 1922 until about 1948 the Springfield News-Sun was a sponsor of the championship, Jim Hulsizer said. From 1948 to the present day, the championship's major sponsors have shifted multiple times, with Schuler's Bakery currently being the largest sponsor.

Dan Schuler, a member of the Schuler's Bakery founding family, is a nine-time champion of the Springfield City AM Championship.

The tournament was first played in a match style, which places players into brackets. The winner of each individual match would then move up to play against another winner, and so on until a final match was played.

The same three courses provided players for the championship until 1940, when the Beaver Valley course was shut down. This left only the Springfield Country Club and Snyder Park to contribute players.

Also in 1940, the championship switched its game play from match style to stroke play, meaning rather than playing in brackets the overall winner was chosen by the raw number of strokes they used.

In 1947 the number of players grew to 32 from 16 in total, with each participating course putting forward 16 players.

Prior to 1957, the championship location alternated between participating courses. However, following the 1957 match at the Springfield Country Club, Reid Park was named as the location for the championship to be held every year, due to other courses all being privately owned.

This year's championship will take place on both the north and south courses at Reid Park, with the first weekend, this Saturday and Sunday, focusing on players qualifying, said Kurt Heintz, Reid Park co-head golf professional. Players will be placed into flights based on ability, and the second weekend, July 16-17, will consist of play, with the winner to be crowned on July 17.

Additionally, entries are no longer limited to only members of certain golf courses, Heintz said. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to enter, regardless of ability.

"We'd like to invite any and all head champions," Heintz said. "It would be nice to get some of them here."