Squire Cup
About Gene Borek
A 48-year member of the PGA of America and a Master PGA Professional, Gene Borek served the game, the Association and his memberships with unprecedented distinction. Gene was inducted into both the Westchester County and Yonkers Halls of Fame as well as one at the Metropolis Country Club where he served his final 25 years until his retirement in 2005. He not only was a former Met PGA Player of the Year but he also won almost every Section Award during his career. His list of achievements included three of the Met PGA’s highest honors – Professional of the Year in 1972, Teacher of the Year in 1996 and the Sam Snead Award in 2003. As a player he was perhaps best known for his course record 65 at Oakmont in the 1973 US Open (broken two days later by the Champion, Johnny Miller). No stranger to major championships, Gene played in a total of 11 PGA Championships, 10 US Opens, 10 PGA Senior Championships, 5 US Senior Opens and on 4 PGA Cup Teams. He won tournaments around the world but took special pride in the local titles he earned including three Met PGA Section Championships, three Long Island PGA’s, two Westchester PGA’s, two Long Island Opens, one Westchester Open and three MGA Senior Opens,. Gene also won the PGA National Stroke Play title (twice) and the PGA National Match Play Championship once. In addition to Metropolis he served the memberships of Sunningdale and Pine Hollow during his illustrious career.
About Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was born in Harrison, New York and began caddying at age ten at local golf clubs, took up golf himself, and gradually developed his skills; he was essentially self-taught. Sarazen took a series of club professional jobs in the New York area from his mid-teens, and worked hard on his game. Among the clubs he enjoyed affiliation with in the Met area were Fresh Meadow and Brooklawn. Sarazen won his first major championships — the 1922 U.S. Open and PGA Championship — at age 20. The winner of 39 PGA Tournaments, Sarazen, known as The Squire, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1974. He was the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1932, and won the PGA Tour’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He played on the first six U.S. Ryder Cup teams: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937. He won the Met Open in 1925 and the Met PGA Championship in 1927, 1928, and 1938. Sarazen invented the modern sand wedge in 1930. The Met PGA established the Squire Cup Matches in the ‘80’s in his honor.
Tournaments
History of the Squire Cup
The Squire Cup was born in the winter of 1986, when a group of people that included J.P. Howard (then the Northeast Region Sales Manager for Wilson Sporting Goods), Jim O’Mara (then President of the Metropolitan PGA Assistants Association), Gil McNally (then President of the Metropolitan PGA), and Russell Helwig (then President of the New Jersey PGA) met to discuss a way of honoring the best assistant professionals in the area.
Because the great “Squire,” Gene Sarazen, began his legendary career here in the Met area as an assistant at Brooklawn, it was decided to name the event after him. Indeed the first victorious Squire Cup team, the Met Section team of 1987, autographed a copy of his biography with the following inscription: “Thank you for the image to which we aspire.”
In 2004 the event was renamed the Gene Borek Squire Cup Matches in honor of one of the Metropolitan PGA’s most decorated professionals. Gene Borek’s legacy of achievements in the areas of Leadership, Professional Performance and Playing Ability are well documented making this event the perfect competition to carry his name. The perpetual trophy has also been named in his honor.
It is with this foundation that the Squire Cup continues. Recognition of the outstanding Assistant Professionals for all that they do for the golf community and the Met PGA is an essential way of preserving their dedication and devotion to the game and the area. The Gene Borek Squire Cup Matches continue as a celebration of what makes the Metropolitan PGA Section and our outstanding golf professionals truly special.
We have the opportunity to again pay tribute to one of our greatest professionals, the late Gene Borek and to celebrate today’s leaders in our association at a venue that has already made its mark on golf’s history.
Tournaments
Purpose and Format of the Gene Borek Squire Cup
In the spirit of honoring outstanding Assistant Professionals, a competition is held against a team of outstanding Head Professionals in the Metropolitan PGA in a modified Ryder Cup format. The format pits two-man teams in singles and better ball play. Aggregate scores for the two man teams determine the winning team. Applicants are chosen in one of three categories. These categories are Leadership, Overall Professional Performance, and Playing Ability.
By selecting these exceptional Assistants, we honor them and at the same time promote the values, history, and traditions that make our Section unique.