Michael Reilly (born April 8, 1968) is an American professional golfer. Reilly was born in Babylon, New York.
In the sport of golf, the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose their amateur status. A golfer who has lost their amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated; a professional may not play in amateur tournaments unless the Committee is notified, acknowledges and confirms the participation. It is very difficult for a professional to regain their amateur status; simply agreeing not to take payment for a particular tournament is not enough. A player must apply to the governing body of the sport to have amateur status reinstated.
Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on Long Island, the town population was 214,191 as of the 2014 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It borders Nassau County to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. At its westernmost point, its location is approximately 20 miles (32 km) from New York City at the Queens border, and approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Manhattan. There is also a village of Babylon located within the town.
Since 1994, Reilly has competed in more than 60 professional golfing events, including eight New York State Opens, seven Metropolitan Opens, and eight Metropolitan PGA Championships. In 2003, he competed on the PGA Tour in the Buick Classic, at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.
The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association, which covers New York City and its suburbs and surrounding districts in northern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut. The tournament has been played annually since 1905, and is the third oldest "Open" golf tournament in the United States, after the U.S. Open (1895) and Western Open (1899). It was staged for the first time in 1905, thanks to the generosity of the Fox Hills Golf Club on Staten Island, which played the dual role of host and sponsor. It is held at member clubs in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It was considered a PGA Tour event from 1916 to 1940. In fact, it was one of the "major" tournaments of this period. The 2009 winner was Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main professional golf tours played primarily by men in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, as well as PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour, as well as PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour China. The PGA Tour is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb of Jacksonville.
The Westchester Country Club was founded in 1922 by John McEntee Bowman , who hired Walter Travis to design two golf courses in the Town of Harrison, New York, as a luxury resort hotel. The West Course was designed for championship play and has hosted PGA tournaments since 1963. The South Course was originally designed for women and higher handicap golfers. Around 1997, the South Course was reconstructed with longer tees, new sand and grass bunkers, water hazards, and some new greens. The South Course is now more competitive with the West Course to accommodate low handicap golfers.
