Contact:

Tom Knisely

Media Relations Specialist

763/694-7617

tknisely@threeriversparkdistrict.org

BAKER NATIONAL GOLF COURSE CHOSEN AS MGA CLUB OF THE YEAR

Baker National Golf Course was named the Minnesota Golf Associations Member Club of the Year at the MGAs 113th annual awards dinner at Bracketts Crossing Country Club in Lakeville on Nov. 4.

The honor is based on the facilitys support of the MGA Associate Members program, involvement with the MGA Junior program, and willingness to host MGA championships and qualifiers.

On behalf of my colleagues on the Board of Commissioners and Park District staff, Im honored that Baker National Golf Course has been chosen as the Minnesota Golf Association Club of the Year, said Three Rivers Park District Board Chair John Gunyou. All staff at the course work hard to make sure the golf experience is fun and challenging for everyone who visits, and Im so proud that their efforts are being recognized with this prestigious award.

Baker National has been an active supporter of amateur golf and MGA championships since the early 1990s. In that time, Baker National has hosted numerous MGA and USGA qualifiers and amateur championships, including: the 1993 and 2000 Minnesota Public Golf Association Public Links Championships, the 1997 Minnesota Womens Public Golf Association Four-Ball Championship, the 2004 MPGA Junior Public Links Championship, the 2006 Minnesota Womens Golf Association Senior Four-Ball and MWPGA Team/Club Championships, the 2010 MWGA State Match Play Championship, and the 2013 Minnesota Junior Girls State Championship. In addition, the course has hosted five MGA Senior Tour events (1999, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012).

Baker National actively supports the MGAs non-profit mission through a large and active MGA Associate Members program, which includes nearly 740 golfers, and has assumed an active role in adopting new handicap software and hardware testing.

The club received a plaque and will be featured in the 2014 Directory issue of Minnesota Golfer, the official publication of the MGA. For more information about other awards that were presented at the MGAs annual awards dinner, visit this link.

About Three Rivers Park District

Three Rivers Park District is a nature-based park system that manages park reserves, regional parks, regional trails and special-use facilities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Three Rivers Park Districts mission is to promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system. The Park District owns and operates more than 27,000 acres and serves more than 9.5 million visitors a year.

About the MGA

Established in 1901, with the formation by seven golf clubs to organize the states most prestigious and storied golf championship, the MGA Amateur Championship, the Minnesota Golf Association is today the governing body over amateur golf in the state, responsible for administering the Rules of Golf, and committed to upholding and promoting the game of golf and its values for all golfers in Minnesota.

The MGA conducts 16 major amateur championships and nine USGA qualifying events each year. Thanks to the support of its member clubs and associate members, and the efforts of its volunteers and staff, the MGA provides a variety of services such as handicapping, course rating and measuring, an online golf news and information resource, www.mngolf.org, and an official publication, Minnesota Golfer magazine, which benefit all golfers throughout Minnesota.