Headline: MGA Member Days Are a Win-Win For the Participating Golfers and Host Clubs... Check Out Why!

For Immediate Release: July 19, 2016

Franklin CC (top) and Pawtucket CC hosted MGA Member Days this week.

Franklin, MA —Monday’s are often quiet at Franklin Country Club. The golf course is closed for maintenance and the parking lot is often empty, besides the members who are enjoying the club’s swimming pool and employees who are catching up on work from the past weekend.

However, this past Monday, 86 golfers took to the links at Franklin Country Club for one of the 15 MGA Member Days on the 2016 schedule, an opportunity for golfers with an MGA membership to try out a new course while enjoying some beautiful weather.

Designed for golfers of all ages and playing abilities, the MGA Member Days are open to all MGA Member Golfers – male or female – who hold a current MGA/USGA GHIN Handicap index with an MGA Member Club.

These one-day tournaments offer an affordable, casual and fun atmosphere for all, while also providing tournament experience for those looking for healthy and spirited competition.

But the MGA Member Days are not only great for the participating golfers. 

For Franklin Country Club, which is hosting its second member day (they also hosted one in 2014), it’s also an opportunity to showcase the course to other’s that might not otherwise get a chance to play the course.

“All 15 of the courses who are hosting a Member Day in 2016 are private courses,” said Shawn Bennett, the MGA's manager of championships & member services. “Of the 86 players playing in today’s Member Day, not one of them has an affiliation with Franklin CC. That means 86 players are playing a course that they are not a regular at, with many playing the course for the first time.”

With a shotgun format, where each group starts on a different hole at the same time, the maximum amount of golfers are able to enjoy the course without taking away from the members use of the course or any other events taking place at the host club on a given day. MGA Member Days are hosted during the week when clubs would otherwise be closed or previously reserved for outside outings.

Working with the golf professionals at each course, Bennett organizes all aspects of the Member Day tournaments, including scheduling the golfers, collecting the fees and operating the event on site at each host club.

“We try to make it as convenient for the clubs as possible," said Bennett. "They open the gates in the morning and we essentially do the rest. We are grateful for the numerous clubs who have expressed interest in hosting an MGA Member Day and we look forward to hosting even more going forward.”

The entry fee for each player competing in the Member Day is $80, and includes the round of golf, cart and range balls. A portion of each entry fee is given to the host club, allowing them to make a profit from the event as well.  

Due to the Member Day’s popularity, the MGA instituted a new lottery-based registration system in 2016 that ensures a fair way for all golfers to sign up for a particular member day.  Under the new online registration system on the MGA's website, MGALinks.org, member golfers can pick and choose from any of the 15 member days scheduled throughout the Bay State that they are interested in playing at. 

Introduced prior to the 2016 season, this new lottery system allows all members an equal opportunity at playing each event. If selected as a winner in the lottery, the new internet-based system allows golfers to fill out all the necessary information and make payments all in one place.

If your club might be interested in hosting a MGA Member Day in the future, please contact Shawn Bennett at sbennett@mgalinks.org.

The next deadline for player’s to register for an MGA Member Day is July 25 for the August 23rd Member Day at Wedgewood Pines Golf Club in Stow.