The scenic 418-yard, par-4 3rd hole at Penfield Country Club offers a dogleg right approach to an elevated green that is protected on front and sides by water. In 2019, the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial returns to Penfield for just the third time in the club’s 60-year history – and for the first time since 2008.|
FOLLOW RESULTS FROM THE 2019 RDGA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP at PENFIELD:
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With so many classic golf course designs in the Rochester area, most golfers would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite amongst all the choices. And, as it relates to selecting a host course for the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial, it is an annual challenge for Rochester District Golf Association officials to narrow their options to one that will both represent the District as well as provide the greatest opportunity for competition for the RDGA’s flagship event.
Fortunately, such decision-making becomes easier when factoring a regular rotation of the area’s top golfing venues comes into play. This year, Penfield Country Club gets its turn in the rotation to host the RDGA District Championship for just the third time in the 60-year history of the club. As the area’s premier amateur championship, many top local golfers will compete for the opportunity to add their name to Penfield’s list of champions.
Hosting the biggest amateur golf tournament in Rochester is certainly a feather in the cap for Penfield, but it isn’t the first event of its kind to be held there.
Along with the other two RDGA Championships which have been hosted by Penfield since 1987, the club has also hosted the RDGA Mid Amateur Championship twice (2012 and 2014), the RDGA Senior Championship once (2004) and the RDGA Junior Championships twice (1974 and 1979).
Whoever becomes the latest champion to be crowned at Penfield – in the 2019 RDGA District Championship on July 31 through August 3 – will surely earn the title, having tamed one of the top courses in the area as well as one of the strongest championship fields of the year.
History of Penfield Country Club Spans
Six Decades of Golf in Rochester
Penfield’s opening coincided with the second great wave of local golf course construction – preceded by the great expansion in the 1920s that included six designs by Donald Ross and followed in the late 1980s and 1990s with the last great local course building phase.
In 2019, Penfield Country Club celebrates its 60th anniversary – a history that began in 1958 with a group of local businessmen and a dream of developing a top quality golf course experience for eastern Monroe County.
The rolling estate of William Rothfuss was transformed by noted local golf course designer Pete Craig into a picturesque nine hole golf course that opened for play on July 4, 1959. Construction of the second nine holes was completed and opened in 1965. The current clubhouse was originally built in 1993 and was renovated and expanded in 2004.
Penfield’s opening coincided with the second great wave of local golf course construction – preceded by the great expansion in the 1920s that included six designs by Donald Ross and followed in the late 1980s and 1990s with the last great local course building phase.In the 60 years since its opening, Penfield has produced many memorable golfers among its membership, as well as many memorable moments in its tournament history.
One of Penfield’s more memorable early champions was John H. Ryan Jr., who, in 1979, won the Rochester District Junior Championship there. Two years later, Ryan would win the first of two consecutive RDGA District Championships before he tragically lost his life in a boating accident a year later. The RDGA District Championship now bears his name in tribute.
In 1987, Allen Demino won his only District Championship title – in the first District Championship to be hosted by Penfield. In 2004, Alan Dirk won his only RDGA Senior Championship title at Penfield in the club’s only hosting of that Championship to date. Four years later, the RDGA Championship Ryan Memorial returned to Penfield for a second time – this time being won by Larry Sand of Irondequoit Country Club in what was his second District Championship title.
More recently, Penfield hosted the RDGA Mid Amateur Championship – a major championship for men ages 25 and above – twice in three years, with Mike Rogers capturing the title in 2012 and Stafford’s Jim Scorse winning the fifth of seven RDGA Mid Am titles to date.
A Classic Golf Course,
A Fair Challenge For Golfers
Building and designing a golf course takes lots of imagination.
Pete Craig’s design of Penfield Country Club (his first) was created on the idea of “Starting with a piece of rugged terrain and coming up with a real plush finished course.” Unlike many courses you’ll see in the area, Craig wanted to design a course that was walkable for golfers of all ages, so much so that he preferred to walk the grounds frequently to have the perfect idea of how he wanted Penfield Country Club to play.
Other special features of our golf course are two par five dog legs, two ponds that give added risk/reward for all levels of golfer and our greens. Designed with special contours and maintained by our fantastic grounds crew, Penfield Country Club has some of the best greens you will find in the Rochester area; providing a challenging, yet rewarding experience for all those who play.
A low, stone fence stands guard along the left side of Penfield Country Club’s par-3 eighth hole – a reminder of the early farms that were once prevalent in the area.
Another par-4 — the 493-yard 14th — is long enough that it plays to a par-5 for members. Like No. 9, it also features a double dogleg, with a green reachable in two, although guarded by bunkers in the front, and a large tree on the left.
Both par-3s on the back nine are long, including the 192-yard 13th and the 194-yard 16th, and both feature elevated greens surrounded by bunkers.
The home hole is a straightforward 434-yard par-4, framed by fairway mounds and bunkers and a picturesque green which backs up to the beautifully-appointed modern clubhouse.
Ultimately, Monroe Golf Club remains both playable and a fair test of golf for even the best of players.
In 1934, Jack Tucker won his fourth consecutive District title in the first Championship played at Monroe — a feat which has yet to be repeated in the long history of the RDGA.
The RDGA Championship Represents the
Long History of Golf in Rochester
Beginning on July 31, the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial returns to Penfield for the first time since 2008 – but the history between the club and the District Championship date back many years earlier.
Beginning with the fifth District championship, hosted in 1934, Monroe Golf Club has hosted nine District Championships, with some of the most revered names in local amateur golf having claimed victory on Monroe’s hallowed fairways.
In 1934, Jack Tucker won his fourth consecutive District title in the first Championship played at Monroe — a feat which has yet to be repeated in the long history of the RDGA.The next District Championship hosted by Monroe came in 1940, the memorable year dominated by one of its own members, Dr. George Trainor. That same year, Trainor won the Monroe club championship as well as the RDGA Championship and the prestigious Monroe Invitational Championship, which was then in only its fourth year.
In 1948, Oak Hill’s Bill Chapin won the RDGA Championship at Monroe, followed six years later by Bert Wing, who won his first of two titles there in 1954. Greg Smith also won there in 1968.
In two RDGA Championships hosted by Monroe in 1961 and 1976, two different winners were crowned — each who share large portions of local Amateur lore. In 1961, CCR’s Don Allen won his second of six District titles at Monroe, and in 1976, Oak Hill’s Chip Lillich won the sixth of a record eight RDGA titles there.
In more recent Ryan Memorial RDGA Championships hosted by Monroe, Ridgemont Country Club’s Brian Bombard won his first and only District Championship title in 1995. And the last time the District Championship was held there – in 2002 – another noted Ridgemont alumnus, Tony DiBitetto, finished three shots ahead of home club favorite John Kircher.
A Look Ahead To This
Year’s Championship
The schedule for this year’s RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial begins with a practice round and opening ceremonies on Tuesday, July 24, followed by the annual Champions Dinner that evening.
Following a long-standing tradition of the RDGA Championship, there will be a ceremonial “first tee shot” during Tuesday’s (July 24) pre-tournament Opening Ceremony.
The 2018 District Championship begins with the first two rounds on Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 and 26, with a field of 114 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 Rounds 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28.
Following the conclusion of the Championship on Saturday, July 28, an awards presentation will be made to the 2018 RDGA Champion.
Other notes of interest at this year’s RDGA District Championship at Penfield:
– Penfield has hosted the RDGA District Championship only twice before: in 1987 (won by Allen DeMino) and 2008 (won by Larry Sand).
– Six (6) Penfield Country Club members will be attempting to win the 2019 RDGA Championship on their home course this year – Brad Basal, Chris Cox, Jason Frontuto, Roy Lotzar, Robert Marshall and Jeff Sachs.
– The amateurs-only starting field includes three former professionals who each had their amateur staus re-instated by the USGA: Adam Condello of Locust Hill Country Club, Tim Spitz of Monroe Golf Club and Yarik Merkulov of Ridgemont Country Club. Merkulov is the most recent to become a re-instated amateur, having officially received his USGA approval in May – just in time to win a spot at the U.S. Open Local Qualifier at Deerfield Golf & Country Club on May 6. 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.
– This year’s starting field includes two sets of brothers: Joey Colosi and Michael Colosi, as well as Adam and Kelly Condello – and a father-son duo; John Kircher and Ben Kircher. Incidentally, this will be Ben Kircher’s first appearance in an RDGA Championship since winning his first major championship – the RDGA Match Play Championship – earlier this year.
– The youngest player in this year’s field is 16-year-old John Mittiga of Geneva Country Club; the oldest player is 69-year-old Dave Benedict of Brook-Lea Country Club.
– Four past Champions are in this year’s starting field, accounting for a combined 11 District titles: Jim Scorse (2001, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2017); John Kircher (1990, 2000, 2004, 2011); Joe Wilson (1989); and 2018 defending champion Chris Blyth.
– This year’s District Championship marks the 37th 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).
This article was written by RDGA Communications Director Dave Eaton.
The green on the short par-4 seventh hole at Penfield Country Club offers players a preview of the clubhouse before making the turn two holes later. Penfield’s immaculately-maintained greens and bunkers help protect par of 71 on the championship course.
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