2024 Men’s Player of the Year

Kyle Downey (Photo: NYSGA)

The Rochester District Golf Association began its Player of the Year Award in 1997 as an extension of the RDGA Match Play Championship – as a way of determining a seeding order, as well as a qualifying process, for the Championship.

A schedule of point values were determined for a number of competitive championships, whereby players would accumulate point totals for the entire season. Today, the RDGA Player of the Year Points Schedule consists of more than 20 events – from RDGA tournaments to State, local and USGA® Championships – at which RDGA players can earn points towards the Player of the Year Award. To be considered for the Men’s RDGA Player of the Year award, golfers must play a minimum of 5 events on the published Points schedule with an additional requirement that 3 of those events must be RDGA events.

Throughout it’s first 20 years, the Men’s RDGA Player of the Year was dominated by Stafford Country Club’s Jim Scorse. Scorse – one of the most consistent competitors in RDGA tournament history – earned RDGA Player of the Year honors 15 times between 1997 and 2018 – including eight years in a row between 2007 and 2014.

In 2023, it was Kyle Downey of Locust Hill Country Club who earned RDGA Men’s Player of the Year honors for the second time in as many years. Downey – who captured the prestigious New York State Men’s Amateur Championship in 2023, added a new accomplishment to his resume in 2024 – finishing in a tie for first in the Monroe Invitational, playing against nationally-ranked collegiate players. Although he ultimately finished second following the playoff, Downey still picked up 650 points for the event, which contributed to his 505-point finish ahead of Men’s POTY runner-up, Aiden Spampinato.

The race for the RDGA Men’s Player of the Year begins each May, with the opening of the RDGA Tournament Schedule. In addition to Player of the Year, the top-32 point winners for the 2024 season also earn invitations to the 2025 RDGA Men’s Match Play Championship and the top-40 point winners (and ties) earn exemptions into the 2025 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial.

To see the final 2024 Men’s RDGA Player of the Year Points standings, CLICK HERE.