FOLLOW RESULTS from the 2024 RDGA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP at IRONDEQUOIT CC:
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It has been eight years since Irondequoit Country Club celebrated it’s centennial anniversary – a landmark milestone among the many historic clubs that make up the rich history of the Rochester area golf scene and a longer presence than some of the area’s other top private clubs.
With such a long history, Irondequoit has played host to many Championship events through the years – including, most recently, the New York State Men’s Amateur and RDGA Senior Championships in 2018 and the Williamson Cup junior matches in 2019.
When Irondequoit hosts the 2024 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial on July 18 through 20, however, it will be just the seventh time in the event’s 94-year history that that the premier Rochester area men’s amateur championship will have been contested on its’ classic Donald Ross-designed championship golf course – and for the first time since the 2013 District Championship was held there.
What the area’s top men’s amateur golfers will find when they return is one of the area’s most challenging Ross designs – in a region that boasts six original Donald Ross courses. And while many Donald Ross courses have been modified through the years, Irondequoit proudly boasts that it is one of the very few in the world that has remained true to its original design and specifications since its’ inception.
Beginning Thursday, July 18, the 2024 RDGA District Championship field – ranging in age from 15 to 74 – will be put to the test on a par-72 Irondequoit Country Club course that plays to 6,830 yards from the championship Black Tees, with three of the holes ranked by the PGA Tour to be among the toughest 50 holes on what was once called the Nationwide Tour, when hosted the Xerox Classic there between 2005 and 2008. While Irondequoit is one of the most scenic courses in the Rochester District, it will also be among the top ten most difficult.
A Course Steeped in Local History
Through the years, Irondequoit Country Club has stood the test of time as one of the Rochester area’s oldest private clubs, offering a challenging test to those of any skill level who play there.
First opened in 1916, Irondequoit’s golf course was designed by famed Scottish golf course architect Donald Ross. Ross was hired to design a nine-hole course on the hilly East Avenue terrain. With horses and men, he fashioned a tract of 3,100 yards containing three par threes, three par fours and three par fives. The then 9-hole course was played twice, totaling 6,200 yards, and although relatively short in distance, Ross compensated for this by creating a challenging layout over the hilly terrain, which produced many sidehill, downhill, and uphill lies, all commanding a golfer’s best shot.
Over the years, course officials have planted and removed a number of trees. Remnants of the early efforts are the generous Fir trees dividing the third and fifth holes. Although now mature, when those trees were young, they created a lush and thick forest where golf balls were easily lost. Today they can create obstacles for balls that stray to the right from either fairway.
Another unique feature of the course is the tall oak tree in the middle of the seventh hole, creating challenges for the better players on the drive, and for less skilled players on their second shot.
In 1952, a second nine was added – also designed by Ross, whose original designs for a second nine were followed in detail, even though he had passed away four years earlier. Land for the second nine was purchased from Oak Hill Country Club, whose famed East Course sits adjacent to Irondequoit. The new property incorporates a meandering creek that comes into play on several holes. While hills are not present on the back nine, and while the back nine contains only one par three and one par five, it is made difficult by its tree lined fairways, long and demanding par fours, the meandering creek, and undulating greens. Many local players believe that the thirteenth hole, a long and up-hill par four with a creek at 300 yards – and featuring an approach to a small, elevated and well bunkered green – is the most difficult par four in the Rochester District.
Today, the course plays at 6,830 yards, with three of the holes ranked by the PGA Tour among the toughest 50 on the 2005 Nationwide Tour (holes 7, 8, and 17). The new tees added on holes 8, 11 and 17 have stretched the length of the course and will provide ample challenge for the contestants in the 2024 RDGA District Championship.
Irondequoit’s original clubhouse was designed by Herbert Stern, one of Rochester’s leading architects, but was destroyed by fire in 1929. The building was replaced with an art deco structure which was remodeled in 1950 to accommodate a growing membership and again renovated in 1980.
In May of 2009 an extensive remodeling and renovation of the existing interior spaces and the exterior of the clubhouse was completed. In addition to the clubhouse renovations, a plaza was created to provide a dramatic entrance to the pool, snack bar and seating area overlooking our facilities. The exterior of the club received a facelift with new stucco finish and rooflines reminiscent of the prominent villa style mansions along East Avenue. Just this past year, the outdoor patio area was again updated and improved, adding a large firepit and lounge chairs.
In addition to the storied golf course, Irondequoit Country Club has four tennis courts, a swimming pool and two platform tennis courts. The club offers its members superior recreational experiences, active golf and tennis programs, recreational swimming, area famous dining, and a family-friendly atmosphere in a convenient suburban location.
Today, golf operations at Irondequoit are directed by PGA Head Professional Ben Wilson, while the grounds and golf course are expertly cared for by Frank Puccia, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Overall management of the club is overseen by Jared Hopkins, a Certified Club Manager (CCM) of the Club Management Association of America.
A History of Producing Great Champions
For three days, between Thursday, July 18 and Saturday, July 20, Irondequoit Country Club will play host to most of the best men’s amateur golfers in the Rochester area for the 2024 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial. With such a long history, Irondequoit has been host to many major championship events through the years.
Irondequoit has hosted the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial six times, most recently in 2013 when a then-16-year-old Gavin Hall won his third District title during the same summer that he also qualified for the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur Championships. With the victory, Hall joined a prestigious list of past RDGA champions who won at Irondequoit – a list that dates back to the first RDGA Championship hosted by the club in 1955.
Bill Corey won that first RDGA title at Irondequoit in 1955, followed by two of the biggest names in local amateur golf history – six-time RDGA champion Don Allen of CCR in 1962, and eight-time RDGA champion Chip Lillich of Oak Hill in 1969. And the next time Irondequoit hosted the District Championship – in 1977 – the title was won by an up-and-coming 20-year-old amateur from Greece named Jeff Sluman, who would go on to capture the PGA Championship 11 years later. And, in 1989, the Country Club of Rochester’s Joe Wilson won the RDGA Championship there in what was, to date, his only District title.
The District Championship was absent from Irondequoit for another 23 years prior to Hall’s victory – but the club has also hosted the RDGA Senior Championship seven times (1944, 1954, 1961, 1974, 1977, 1995, 2018) and the RDGA Junior Championships eight times (1940, 1946, 1953, 1963, 1972, 1981, 1993, 2002).
In addition to the many RDGA Championships hosted by Irondequoit, the club has also hosted its share of famous golfers and high-profile tournaments during it’s 108-year history.
In the early 1990s, Irondequoit hosted several annual one-day pro-am charity fundraisers – the Strong Memorial PGA Pro-Am – featuring the likes of David Toms, Lanny Wadkins, Scott Hoch and Paul Azinger, among many others.
In the mid-2000s, Irondequoit hosted an annual pro tour event, part of the Nationwide Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) – the PGA Tour’s developmental tour that has seen many of its “graduates” go on to star on the PGA Tour itself. Between 2005 and 2008, Nationwide Tour golfers visited Irondequoit Country Club for the annual Xerox Classic. Two of those four Xerox champions – Kevin Stadler and Brendon De Jonge, went on to enjoy careers on the PGA Tour.
More recently, Irondequoit hosted the 2019 New York State Men’s Amateur Championship. A three-day, 72-hole stroke play championship, Irondequoit produced an exciting finish to the 2018 State Men’s Amateur, with Pittsford’s Will Thomson edging out 2018 RDGA District Championship winner Chris Blyth by one shot on the final hole of play.
A Major Championship For Local Amateurs
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.
From its’ beginnings, the RDGA Championship produced many memorable champions – some young, some old – but it was a young RDGA Champion 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 at Irondequoit 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, Yaroslav Merkulov added a second RDGA District Championship title to his first one in 2019.
Lohwater Enters the 2024 District Championship as Defending Champion
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 current 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.
A Look Ahead To This Year’s Championship
The schedule for this year’s RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial begins with the third annual RDGA Hall of Fame Induction Celebration on Tuesday, July 16. This year’s ceremony will honor Irondequoit’s own long-time head professional, the late Frank Commisso, along with Ann Kerwick, one of the area’s winningest female amateurs; Jim Mrva, the nationally recognized and honored retired PGA Professional from Monroe Golf Club; Donald Ross – designer of Irondequoit Country Club, as well as five other courses around Rochester – and hundreds of famous designs around the world; and the Thaney Family, with over eight decades and three generations of supporting and leading the Rochester-area golf scene.
On Wednesday, July 17, the annual Championship Practice Round and opening ceremonies will take place. Following a long-standing tradition of the RDGA Championship, there will be a ceremonial “first tee shot” during Wednesday’s pre-tournament Opening Ceremony.
The 2024 District Championship begins with the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19, with a full field of 156 players starting off holes No. 1 and No. 10. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 40 players (plus ties) and will conclude with Round 3 on Saturday, July 20. Following the conclusion of the Championship on July 20, an awards presentation and post-Championship reception will be held, honoring the 2024 RDGA Champion.
Other notes of interest at this year’s RDGA District Championship at Penfield:
– No less than ELEVEN (11) Irondequoit Country Club members will be attempting to win the 2024 RDGA Championship on their home course this year: John Russ, Zach Jerome, Corey Rothfuss, Barrett Paolini, Andrew Miller, Matt Bennage, Nathan Peck, Kelly Condello, Jon Pecor, Sam Tuzzeo – and 16-year-old Reid Wilson, son of Irondequoit Head Professional, Ben Wilson.
– The amateurs-only starting field includes at least one former professional who had his amateur status re-instated by the USGA: Yarik Merkulov of Ridgemont Country Club. Merkulov became an officially re-instated amateur in 2019 and has since qualified for the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Mid Amateur, as well as won the RDGA Championship twice, in 2019 and 2021. Prior to trying his hand in the professional ranks, Merkulov won the New York State Men’s Amateur Championship and was a member of the winning Williamson Cup team from Rochester – both in 2009. He graduated from Duke University in 2014.
– This year’s starting field includes THREE sets of brothers: Colin Barber (17) and Bryce Barber (21), as well as James Caruso (39) and Ben Caruso (41) and Josh Desain (26) and Brandon Desain (29) – as well as a father-son duo; Ken Starkweather (53) and Jason Starkweather (16).
– The youngest players in this year’s field are 15-year-olds Sam Eichas and Timmy Spitz; the oldest player is 74-year-old Dave Benedict of Brook-Lea Country Club.
– Four past Champions are in this year’s starting field, accounting for a combined 9 District titles: Jim Scorse (2001, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2017); 2018 champion Chris Blyth, two-time champion (2019 and 2021) Yarik Merkulov and 2023 defending champion Jason Lohwater.
– This year’s District Championship marks the 42nd anniversary of the tragic passing of tournament namesake John H. Ryan Jr. in a boating accident. Ryan was killed just two weeks after winning his second consecutive RDGA District Championship title in July of 1982. The RDGA soon thereafter renamed the tournament as the John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial in 1983. (Ken Andrychuk was the first to win the District Championship title as the Ryan Memorial in that year).
Portions of this article were written by RDGA Communications Director Dave Eaton.
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