The MGA Senior Masters
At Anglebrook Golf Club
The Metropolitan Golf Association is the governing body for golf in our region, and the Senior Masters is the MGA’s annual test-of-the-best for golfers 65 and over. …It’s a big deal to be asked to host the event, and we were honored to be selected to host the MGA 2025 Senior Masters at Anglebrook Golf Club.
Anglebrook was the last golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. - when he was 88 - after creating more than 500 courses worldwide. So hosting a senior championship at Anglebrook feels like a quiet nod to longevity, mastery, and the idea that great work - and great golf - have no expiration date.
Spread across 240 acres, much of it protected land, Anglebrook doesn’t feel like a typical golf course. It feels more like a landscape you happen to be playing through. Fairways unfold unexpectedly. Native grasses glow gold against bright white bunkers. And the greens, in particular, define the experience. Large, fast, and full of movement, they reward imagination as much as precision - exactly the kind of test that suits players who’ve learned to rely on feel and patience over raw force.
Each season brings a new perspective, and the 2025 Senior Masters took place on an overcast and chilly day in October near the end of the golf season. Our Greenskeeper, Scott Imbro, completing his second full year making our great course even greater, had the course in perfect condition, with greens running fast despite the inclement weather.
When the age range in a tournament runs from 65 to 75, the rhythm shifts. The competition is real - fierce, even - but it’s tempered by perspective. There’s more laughter. More reflection. And an underlying gratitude that’s impossible to miss. And there may be some pre-round conversation about stiff backs or sore knees, but once the first tee shot is struck, the fire is unmistakably still there.
Anthony Fioretti, a long-time successful amateur golfer hailing from Newton Country Club in northwest New Jersey - who hadn’t won a golf tournament in seven years - shot a 71 and was the only one of 70 players to break par - to win the event. He’d competed at Anglebrook years earlier, and he stated that something about the course really suits his eye. After a shaky opening hole in stiff wind, he found his rhythm quickly, birdieing three of his first five holes, and adding key birdies later to pull away.
Photo: Courtesy of the MGA (center)
Fioretti didn’t start playing golf until his thirties, but by his forties he was already competing. What hooked him was the combination of challenge and camaraderie. “Golf has been a huge part of my life,” Fioretti declared. “It’s kept me young. And I think most of the guys out here would say the same thing. A lot of us have been playing these events together for years. Reconnecting, getting paired with familiar faces - that’s really what it’s all about.”
Thomas Trakoval, who finished second with an even-par 72 - just shy of his 69th birthday - was playing Anglebrook for the first time. After a rocky start, he steadied himself the way seasoned golfers do - by trusting his putting and letting the round come back to him. A late run of birdies brought him squarely into contention.
Trakoval summed it up simply saying, “Only in golf are we still out here competing at our age. That’s what makes it such a special, lifelong sport.”
That sentiment echoed throughout the day. …At this stage of life, golf becomes less about power and more about craft. Tempo replaces speed. Strategy matters more than distance. The joy comes not from overpowering a hole, but from thinking your way through it…and from doing so alongside players who’ve spent decades loving the same game.
Photo: Courtesy of the MGA
…Anglebrook has always operated with a certain discretion. Despite being ranked by Golf Digest - along with Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge, Westchester, and Hudson National - as one of the 20 Best Courses in New York State, and a résumé that includes hosting the U.S. Amateur Qualifying Tournament in 2007, the U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying Tournament in 2016, several New York State Open Qualifiers, and other major amateur championships and international competitions, Anglebrook remains understated - and confident enough to let the experience speak for itself.
We run dozens of large outings each year, including Hockey Hall of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup Champ Mark Messier’s annual outing to benefit his foundation that supports programs focused on sports, healthy living, and education for those in need. But we took special pride in organizing, seamlessly executing, and hosting this prestigious event. …The shotgun format made the whole day unfold communally, and the atmosphere all-day was competitive but convivial. Players gathered on the range and around the clubhouse before play, and then again after the golf was over, to share stories and reflections…and a sumptuous meal. …And this group of senior golfers were one of the most passionate field of players I’ve had the pleasure to host in the near quarter-century I’ve been General Manager here!
From Left: Tommy McCormack, Manager, Championship Operations & Thomas Cosentino, Scoring Coordinator; Tournament Champion, Anthony Fioretti; Michael Schlein, an MGA Volunteer; Matt Sullivan with Anglebrook Head Pro, AJ Berglund
When the trophies were handed out, the real takeaway seemed much less tangible than the awards…and much more about a shared appreciation that everyone there got the opportunity to play and compete, and a reminder of the role the game of golf has played - and will continue to play - in each of the competitor’s lives.
Perhaps the real story of the 2025 MGA Senior Masters at Anglebrook is that…on a course becoming known as one of Westchester’s most demanding tests…a group of senior golfers gathered not just to compete, but to celebrate the fact that the game still challenges them, still connects them, and still gives them reason to show up, swing away, and smile while doing it, just like they did when they were kids.
Anglebrook is currently enlisting new members in each of its six membership categories - ranging from a weekday membership with limited weekend afternoon privileges, to full and unlimited-access options for individuals and corporations. There is even an under-35 membership. While there is a modest initiation fee for the full-access programs - and annual individual dues of just $17,000, several plans require only an annual dues payment and no initiation fee. Corporations can enlist as ‘Weekday-Plus’ members with up to four designees for as little as $9,600 per person. Designed for doing business at the golf course, Anglebrook maintains liberal policies on number of visitors, number of visits per guest, and on unattended guests. Members can even sponsor non-member groups to enjoy the club three times per month.
