Scorse Claims Ninth RDGA Match Play Title at Stafford CC; Sorci Wins First Senior Title

The two champions left standing by the end of the weekend – Stafford Country Club’s Jim Scorse in the Match Play Championship and Chris Sorci of the RDGA eClub in the Senior Match Play Championship – arrived at the trophy presentation Sunday taking different paths, with Scorse winning his ninth RDGA Match Play title and Sorci earning his first. Both played well when it counted, however, and each survived strong fields to reach the top.

The RDGA wishes to thank Stafford Country Club, its members and staff – and particularly the efforts of PGA Head Professional Eric Haile – for hosting this year’s RDGA Match Play Championships.

Scorse Outlasts Strong Field for Ninth Match Play Championship Title

Entering this year’s RDGA Match Play Championship, most long-time local golf enthusiasts would have given Jim Scorse better-than-average odds for winning the 2018 title – if for no other reason than he was playing on his home course at Stafford.

Certainly, there were many other reasons to pick the multiple District Champion and RDGA Player of the Year to win the 2018 District Match Play Championship. That Scorse had won the Match Play title eight times – including five of the last eight years – along with the fact that he was playing on a course that he knows like the back of his hand, added up to long odds for any player attempting to unseat Scorse for the title.

Scorse being the competitor he is, however, found other reasons to stay motivated throughout the three-day Championship. On Sunday, he wrapped up his record ninth RDGA Match Play title in a hard-fought 3-and-2 final match with Oak Hill’s Shawn Baker, capping off a string of matches where he never played past the 16th hole.

“Being at my home course was a nice bonus, that’s for sure,” Scorse said afterwards. “Being defending champion also gave me some incentive – but it was just nice to be on your home course and be comfortable. Even if I hit a bad shot, I always felt like I had an opportunity.”

As the defending champion, Scorse had one less round to play – given that the top-8 seeded players all received byes in the first round – but that didn’t make his later opponents any less formidable. In Round 2, he faced Ridgemont’s Brett Semple, who did as well as any opponent in taking Scorse to the 16th hole before losing 3-and-2.

In the Quarter Final round on Saturday morning, Scorse met Oak Hill’s Tim Saur – the defending RDGA Mid Amateur Champion – winning by a 7-and-6 margin; then in the Semi Finals that afternoon, he faced another formidable Oak Hill golfer, Jim Mason – the 2005 RDGA Match Play Champion and a three-time runner-up – who he also dispatched by a 7-and-5 margin to advance to the Finals on Sunday morning.

Scorse’s Finals opponent, Oak Hill’s Shawn Baker, also had a first-round bye as the No. 6 seed in the Championship. In Round 2, he defeated Tim Coykendall of Ravenwood, 4-and-3, then outlasted fellow Oak Hill member Doug Kulikowski, 2-and-1 in the Quarter Finals. In the Semi Finals, Baker held off last year’s runner-up, Adam Condello of Locust Hill, by a 4-and-2 decision to advance to the Finals.

In the Championship match, Baker – who was the runner-up to Shane Dobesh in the 2015 RDGA Match Play Championship – looked like the player to beat, jumping out to a 1-up lead following an uncharacteristic bogey by Scorse on the first hole. Baker then added to his lead on No. 5, posting a birdie-4 to go 2-up.

Scorse began his comeback just before making the turn, with birdies on Nos. 9, 11 and 12 to take a 1-up lead after 12. Baker managed to fight back with a birdie at 13 to bring the match back to all square – but then bogeyed the next three holes as Scorse came storming back to claim a 3-and-2 victory and the 2018 RDGA Match Play title.

Although he refused to use it as an excuse, Baker admitted to being tired at the outset of the Championship match Sunday morning, having been awake since 3 am to help care for his new baby daughter at home. Clearly, Baker ran out of steam late in the match, bogeying four of the last five holes he played.

“I’m still going to give the assist to Shawn’s daughter for keeping him up all night,” Scorse joked later.

For players like Scorse, though, there are many motivating factors that can drive an impressive title run like the one he had in this year’s RDGA Match Play Championship. Surprizingly, even though he has played in several RDGA Championships on his home course at Stafford through the years, Scorse had had difficulty winning there – most notably when then-amateur Trevor Sluman completed a record-tying week, finishing one shot ahead of Scorse for the 2014 RDGA District Championship title.

Even in the RDGA Match Play Championship – of which Scorse now has nine titles – he had had his difficulty in winning at Stafford.

“I played here in ’97 (when Stafford hosted the very first RDGA Match Play Championship) and lost to Ronnie Mack in the first round,” Scorse recalled. “That was another reason (why he was motivated to win the Match Play at Stafford) – I’ve never won an RDGA title here and I would have kicked myself if I didn’t win this one.”

And now, Scorse can claim yet another “first” with his win in the 2018 RDGA Match Play Championship – the first to win the event in three consecutive years.

Like the RDGA Match Play Championship, the 2018 RDGA Senior Match Play Championship – for players ages 55 and over – also featured a starting field of 24 golfers and, as in the Match Play Championship, the top eight seeded players received first round byes.

Beginning with the two Senior Match Play finalists from a year ago – defending champion Stu Harris of Locust Hill and Oak Hill’s Brad McAreavy – the field in this year’s event was strong from top to bottom.

Now in it’s fourth year, the RDGA Senior Match Play has quickly become one of the most popular events on the District calendar and a springboard to the so-called “Senior Slam” – players who have won both the Senior Match Play as well as the RDGA Senior Championship. Mark Battle was the first to earn the Senior Slam, winning the inaugural Senior Match Play in 2015. The following year, past Senior Championship winner Bob Chalanick added his name to the short list of “Slammers,” and last year, Harris won the Senior Match Play first, before going on to capture the Senior Championhsip later that year – becoming the only player to date to win the Senior Slam in the same Calendar year.

So it was, then, that several players in this year’s field hoped to double up on Championship titles with a win in the 2018 RDGA Senior Match Play Championship at Stafford.

Beginning with Round 1 on Friday, one player that might not have been at the top of everyone’s list to win the title was Chris Sorci, an RDGA eClub member who had never won and RDGA tournament title prior to this event. Still, players who overlooked Sorci did so at their own risk – had they known of his recent record in RDGA events.

Last year, Sorci made an impressive run at his first District Championship title, holding a share of second place in the RDGA Mid Amateur Championship at Cobblestone Creek after Round 1 – only to be forced to withdraw due to a yardwork injury later that afternoon.

Now fully healed and in good shape, Sorci rolled to a 6-and-5 victory over Don Neal in Round 1 of the Match Play Championship, followed by a 2-and-1 win over Paul Parrone in Round 2. In the Quarter Finals, Sorci scored an impressive 1-up victory over the defending champion, Stu Harris, then won 4-and-3 over John Piehler in the Semi Finals to advance to the Championship match.

Meanwhile, Sorci’s Finals opponent, George Kavanagh, was looking to become the next RDGA “Senior Slammer,” following his Senior Championship victory in 2016. Kavanagh faced tough opponents the entire way, defeating Oak Hill’s Chuck Ryan in the first Round, and Irondequoit’s John Auguat in Round Two, before meeting last year’s runner-up, Brad McAreavy, in the Quarter Finals, where he recorded a 3-and-2 victory.

In the Semi Finals, Kavanagh met Geneva’s Jim Burns – winner of the Super Senior Flight in last year’s RDGA Senior Championship – coming away with an impressive 6-and-5 victory to set up the Championship Match with Sorci.

Sorci looked to build an insurmountable lead right from the start, winning holes 1, 3 and 4 to jump out to a 3-up lead over Kavanagh after 4. A bogey at 5 dropped his lead to 2-up as the players headed to what would become a hard-fought match on the back nine. Although Sorci would birdie No. 10, he also bogeyed 12, 14 and 16. Kavanagh, meanwhile, birdied 13 to come within a 1-up deficit to Sorci with five holes to play – but he then bogeyed the next three holes as Sorci re-established a 2-up advantage which he maintained the rest of the way to win the match and the 2018 Senior Match Play title, 2-and-1.

As his first RDGA title of any kind, Sorci was very happy to claim victory. And – later this year – Sorci will attempt to become the fourth player in as many years to win the “Senior Slam” when he tees it up at the 2018 RDGA Senior Championship at Irondequoit Country Club.