Syracuse, N.Y. -- Like a lot of us, Joe Tesori, Jr. watched "The Match" over the weekend, and especially enjoyed seeing one of the Northeast's biggest nemeses struggle.

"Seeing Tom Brady out of his comfort zone was awesome, as a Dolphins' fan," he said.  "It had incredible ratings, it was an incredible event."


What You Need To Know


  • The CNY PGA is hosting the AIM Championship next weekend, June 4-7.

  • There are two qualifying rounds scheduled for this Sunday and Monday, and both fields are completely filled.

  • The AIM Championship was formerly known as the Post Standard Am and Herald Am.

  • The 64th annual event is the CNY PGA's first "major" of the 2020 season.

And as the tournament director of the Central New York PGA, Tesori has one of his own to look forward to next week as competitive golf in the area makes its long-awaited 2020 debut with the AIM Championship.  The 64th annual event, formerly known as the Post Standard Am and Herald Am, is considered one of the four "majors", of the CNY golf season.  The decision to not postpone or cancel it didn't come easy.

"Since we are putting such an emphasis on player safety, and once we saw that it was getting an incredible amount of 'buzz', we made the decision," said Tesori, whose father Joe, Sr. is a CNY PGA Hall of Famer (Class of 2002).  "And, we made the right decision, I think."

Qualifying rounds for the tournament will be held this Sunday at Cazenovia Country Club and Monday at Timber Banks, and both fields are full with a double digit-long waiting list already.  That kind of response, during the ongoing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 climate, was a key factor in deciding to hold the event, which will look unlike any of the previous 63.

"Everything scorecard-wise is going to be on our app, we're limiting people on the practice range and green, we're spacing the tee times out to make it less congested, and probably the biggest thing is 'no congregating'," he said, which means no mingling around the score tent after the round is over.  "We're simply saying, once your scores are in, to leave the facility."

Tesori says they're also not going to allow caddies out of safety precautions, and he admits that could cost the tournament some players.   And, similar to the restrictions we'll see on the PGA Tour next month, no spectators will be allowed.  Far from ideal circumstances for staging one of the most prestigious events of the summer, but Tesori says despite all the restrictions, the anticipation is building.

"These players are signing up, they want to play, and we want to give them an opportunity to play,"  he said.  "We have a great following, and we're really excited to move forward with these events."

And barring a relapse of the virus later this summer, Tesori says he still expects to stage more than three-fourths of the CNY PGA's annual events this year, with at least one scheduled every week into early October.  That includes the second "major" of the season, the CNY Open, coming up in late June.  Of course, that will also depend on how well things go with the 'guinea pig' next week.

"We feel we're going to be the catalyst in this area for running an event.  We feel it's going to be a great event and it's going to work, and we're excited for it."