Past RDGA Men’s Champions

The RDGA Men’s District Championship – John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial

Jason Lohwater of Brook-Lea CC (center) at the trophy presentation with RDGA Past Presidents Mike Sorce (left) and Mark Battle (right), after winning the 2023 RDGA District Championship at Ravenwood GC.

As the premier event on the Rochester District Golf Association’s annual tournament calendar, the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial is also the RDGA’s longest-running event, having been played every year since 1930 – with the exception of 1943, in the midst of World War II.

In the early years of the District Championship, the tournament was hosted by a rotation consisting of most the original 12 member-clubs of the RDGA, with the format of the event beginning as a 32-player match play competition. This format continued, with minor changes, through 1968 – but in 1969, the controversial decision was made to change the District Championship to a 72-hole stroke/medal play competition, following lengthy debate amongst delegates from RDGA-member clubs. Although considered a “trial” format at its inception, the popularity of the stroke-play format quickly took hold and the District Championship was conducted in that format for the next 50 years.

In 2020, the tried and true format of four rounds and 72 holes of competition changed – only slightly – to a three-round, 54-hole stroke play Championship, allowing for players to take less time off from their places of employment, as well as providing the host club an opportunity to allow for more member play during the busy local summer season.

Only one other significant change has been made to the RDGA Championship format since the switch to stroke play in 1969. As the event continued to grow in popularity, so too did the number of entries, with the RDGA occasionally having to limit the starting field based on players’ Handicap Index. Following a record number of 169 entries for the 1990 RDGA Championship, the decision was made to begin hosting separate qualifying rounds prior to the District Championship beginning in 1991 – a schedule that has continued to this day.

Through the years, there have been many memorable – and several repeat – District Champions. Jim Weldon was the first to earn the title of District Champion in 1930, but Jack Tucker soon became the dominant player in the event, winning the RDGA Championship five times over the next seven years – including four in a row between 1931 and 1934. In 1947, Sam Urzetta – who later went on to a career as the head club professional at the Country Club of Rochester – won the first of his two District titles, with his second coming in 1950, the same year he won the U.S. Amateur Championship.

In 1952 and 1953, Bob Hill became the third player to win back-to-back District Championship titles (following Tucker and Dan Gaskill) and in 1959, CCR’s Don Allen won the first of what would be a total of six RDGA Championships over the next 20 years. Allen’s record haul of District titles would stand for another seven years, until a rival champion from nearby Oak Hill Country Club, Chip Lillich, won his seventh and eighth Championships in 1985 and 1986. In fact, not only does Lillich still hold the record for number of District Championship titles, he is also the only player to have won the event in at least two consecutive years on three different occasions.

Another past RDGA Champion who has since gone on to bigger and better things is Greece native Jeff Sluman, who won the title in 1977 before launching a long and successful career as a tour pro, winning several titles on both the PGA and Champions Tours, including the 1988 PGA Championship.

It was another young RDGA Champion, however, from whom the RDGA District Championship now takes its name. In July, 1982, 20-year-old CCR member John Ryan Jr. won his second consecutive District Championship – just a preview of the many he was sure to win throughout his life. Tragically, though, Ryan was killed just two weeks later in a boating accident. It didn’t take long for the RDGA to honor young Ryan – renaming the tournament as the John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial in 1983, another District Championship tradition that continues to this day.

Since 1990, the RDGA District Championship has seen six repeat champions, including Monroe Golf Club’s John Kircher, winner of four RDGA District Championship titles (1990, 2000, 2004 and 2011); Stafford Country Club’s Jim Scorse, who has five RDGA titles to his credit (2001, 2003, 2005, 2012 and 2017); and Irondequoit Country Club’s Larry Sand, who won titles in 1997 and 2008.

More recently, Gavin Hall became a three-time District Champion in 2013 (including his titles on 2009 and 2010). Between 2014 and 2016, Trevor Sluman – the nephew of pro tour golfer and 1977 RDGA winner Jeff Sluman – won the RDGA Championship three consecutive years before declaring his professional status. And in 2021, Yarik Merkulov added a second RDGA District Championship title to his first one in 2019.

In 2023, the 93rd RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Memorial was hosted by the Ravenwood Golf Club, which became just the third public daily fee facility to host the District Championship. Following the revised 54-hole format, the 2023 District Championship was held over three days, Thursday through Saturday, July 13-15.

Following Friday’s 36-hole cut to the low 40 players and ties, Saturday’s third and final round opened with one player – Jason Lohwater of Brook-Lea Country Club – in the lead through the first two days of competition.

Lohwater first grabbed the lead in Friday’s Round Two on the strength of a near-perfect day on the par-72 Ravenwood layout that included an eagle, 6 birdies and no bogies – for an 8-under-par 64 and a one shot lead heading into the final round.

On Saturday, Lohwater kept his foot on the gas as he added to his lead on the front nine with three birdies and one bogey to extend his lead to three shots and a 12-under-par total for the Championship.

A bogey on No. 10 was his last stumble, and as he teed off on the par-5 18th with a commanding two shot lead over Kyle Downey, he was faced with one last decision – lay up for an easy par, or go for the green for a possible birdie or eagle. Lohwater ultimately decided to stick to the style of play that had served him so well throughout the Championship – going for the green in two.

With over 220 yards to go, Lohwater’s second shot just cleared the greenside bunker at 18, as his ball closed to within feet of the pin, which was tucked away in the top right corner of the green. Minutes later, Lohwater drained his second putt for a birdie to close out a three-shot victory at 12-under-par 204 over 54 holes – and record the biggest victory in his RDGA career: the 2023 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial title.

The victory ended a long wait for the 22-year-old Lohwater, whose previous RDGA title had been the 2016 RDGA Boys Junior Championship.

In 2024, the RDGA is excited to be returning to one of the area’s top private clubs, as Irondequoit Country Club will host the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial for the seventh time in it’s 108-year history. A past host of many other major championships – including the RDGA Senior Championship and the RDGA Junior Championships – Irondequoit will host this year’s RDGA District Championship on July 18-20.