Par-Troy Golfer Tees Off in Hopes of USGA Senior Amateur Win

Jay Blumenfeld says winning the U.S. Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship would be a dream come true, and he just may have that chance this weekend. The 60-year-old longtime Parsippany resident is competing in the annual tournament, which tees off officially Saturday at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell.

And he appears to have a good shot. Blumenfeld is the reigning club champion at Mountain Ridge. To win that title, he told Patch, he had to play a course featuring tougher conditions than those Amateur contestants will face.

"I may have an advantage in that sense," he said. "I have played this course under every condition imaginable. Let's hope it pays off."

This marks Blumenfeld's second appearance at the Amateur, and he said he is pleased to have the championship hosted at his home club.

"It's very exciting," he said. "Not too many people get the opportunity to play their home course in a USGA event, so I'm very, very excited about it."

Blumenfeld said he has been playing golf since his teen years when he played on a public course in East Orange. 

He plays for one simple reason.

"I love the game, I love the sport," he explained. "I took it up when I was about 14 or 15 years old, started caddying and loved it. I got pretty good right away, and my parents were supportive."

He played in high school and at the University of Miami, he said, and began competing in amateur tournaments as a teenager.

Blumenfeld flirted with the notion of becoming a professional golfer after graduating from college, but took his life into a different direction.

"I decided to go to work instead and got married and moved to Parsippany in 1976," he said. "We lived in the apartments on Baldwin Road, and then we moved into our home in 1980 and raised our three children, who went to Parsippany High School. We still live in that same house."

Blumenfeld noted that his son played on Par High's golf team and used the course at the Knoll West Golf Club.

"I love the Knoll West," he said. "It's a fabulous golf course, beautiful. I don't play there often, but I have played there a number of times. It's a great golf course."

So why does he play in West Caldwell?

"After I got married I became friendly with a good amateur golfer, a great friend of mine and a [Mountain Ridge] member named Ned Steiner," he said. "He wanted to know if I wanted to join here and  of course, I did. We got in in 1977, and my first full year was 1978.

"I was 25 years old and didn't think I could afford it, but as it worked out, I could when I was that young and it's something that's kept me in New Jersey. I couldn't give up Mountain Ridge."

Blumenfeld said most of his family is in Florida, and that his golf course is one of the reasons why he hasn't gone south.

"It was a good decision, because we love living in New Jersey."

When not hitting the links, Blumenfeld runs a life and health insurance agency, Jay Blumenfeld & Associates, on Route 46.

"I've been lucky to have the support of my family and a profession—and a great staff—that allows me to goof off and play golf."

And that happens often: Blumenfeld plays at numerous local, regional, national and international events each year, and his amateur career has been noteworthy. He said he can't count the number of titles he's won over the years, but he's won the Mountain Ridge Club Championship "a bunch of times" and twice—in 2006 and again in 2009—he was named New Jersey State Golf Association Player of the Year.

"I've been successful," he said. "I've played in not only USGA events, but Royal and Ancient Golf Club events [in Scotland; the R&A is considered the world's premier golf organization] and Canadian events."

He's also played in Professional Golf Association events, such as the state Senior Open, that allow amateurs to compete.

"I've tried for the British Senior Open and the U.S. Senior Open, but I have played in the state Senior Open, the state Open—that's a pro event, but we're allowed to play as amateurs. Haven't won any of those yet, but I've had some success in that."

Very close to Blumenfeld's heart, he said, are his three appearances at the Maccabi Games in Israel.

"That's one of the highlights of my golf career. In 1977, 1993 and 1997 I represented the U.S. in Israel, and I'm very involved in the organization."

Asked if he wishes he had gone pro, he said no.

"I don't regret that decision one bit," he said. "Amateur golf has been very good to me. It's taken us all over the world to meet a lot of terrific people. There are 154 senior amateurs here, and I probably know 50-70 of them, have traveled and competed with them, gotten to know their wives. It's a lot of fun. 

"Especially at this age—we picked a good sport to be able to compete in our older years," he said, noting that men must be 55 years old to take part in USGA Senior events.

"It would be a dream come true if I ever won [the Senior Amateur]," he said. "We're just focusing on the weekend and getting through medal play [when the filed of 154 is cut to 64] to get to match play. Some of the people who have won it before have become good friends and they're really great golfers.

"To win would be an amazing accomplishment."