RDGA Match Play Championships Return to Historic Stafford Country Club in 2018 - RDGA

The short par-4 18th hole at Stafford Country Club, above, will be sure to provide late-round drama during the 2018 RDGA Match Play and Senior Match Play Championships on May 25 to 27.

FOLLOW THE ACTION FROM THE 2018 RDGA MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS:

CLICK HERE for the starting brackets for the 2018 RDGA Match Play Championship

CLICK HERE for the starting brackets for the 2018 RDGA Senior Match Play Championship

When Stafford Country Club hosts the 2018 RDGA Match Play Championship and RDGA Senior Match Play Championship on May 25 through 27, it will mark something of a homecoming for the 22-year history of the RDGA major – Stafford also hosted the FIRST RDGA Match Play Championship in 1997.

Stafford, of course, is no stranger to RDGA Major Championships, having hosted the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memeorial three times (most recently in 2014), as well as the RDGA Senior Championships (twice), the RDGA Junior Championships (in 1983) – as well as the Match Play Championship three times.

In the last RDGA major championship to be held at Stafford – the 2014 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial – Oak Hill’s Trevor Sluman won the first of three consecutive District titles and Jenna Hoecker of Brook-Lea won the first of two RDGA Women’s Championship titles, setting the women’s course record at Stafford (a 65) along the way.

This year, the return of the District Match Play Championships are sure to add another exciting new chapter in the 97-year history of Stafford Country Club.

A Long and Storied History

In the early 1920’s, a small but prominent and influential group of businessmen from Batavia and LeRoy took the first major step towards fulfilling their vision of a first-class country club for Genesee County. After careful consideration, they acquired several acres of rolling farmland bordering Black Creek in the small hamlet of Stafford, deemed ideal for a first-rate 18-hole golf course. In short order, they brought the esteemed golf course designer, Walter J. Travis, to inspect the site and commissioned him to design a “second to none” course.

At the time, Travis was one of the most respected and sought-after golf course designers in the country. His reputation was based on his work at Ekwanok Country Club in Vermont, Garden City Golf Club on Long Island, Hollywood Golf Club in New Jersey, his three courses at Westchester Country Club, and others. Travis was no stranger in Western New York. He was widely acclaimed for his redesign of the Country Club of Buffalo course, enabling the club to host the 1912 U.S. Open Championship. Soon after, the Park Club of Buffalo enlisted him to design their new course in Orchard Park.

During the summer of 1921, Travis made several trips to Stafford from his home in Garden City, Long Island, in order to oversee the construction of the first nine holes (now played as the back nine). When the first nine holes were completed, Travis wrote the club, stating, “There are several superb holes, unsurpassed anywhere, and with not a single weak one in the whole bunch. All in all, I am proud of the whole thing—-.”

In October, 1921, during his first visit to Stafford, Rochester native and early golfing superstar Walter Hagen declared the course “second to none, and worthy of the interest of its members for years to come.” Subsequent visits by professionals such as Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and Julie Inkster brought similar acclaim.

Trevor Sluman, left, and Jenna Hoecker – winners of the

2014 RDGA District Championships at Stafford.

A favorite clubhouse activity for members is to relax on the covered patios while watching fellow golfers complete their rounds. Travis showed great foresight when he insisted that the clubhouse be located on the ridge overlooking the 18th hole.

Over the years, there have been few alterations to the original Travis course. In the early 1930’s, minor renovations were completed under the direction of noted architects Robert Trent Jones and Stanley Thompson. A golf course master plan was developed in the late 1990’s in order to assure that improvements to the course adhered to the character of the classic Travis design. Implementation of the master plan began in 1999 with a complete bunker restoration and renovation.

Stafford has hosted numerous top-level golf tournaments through the years, including both Men’s and Women’s New York State Amateur Championships, the New York State Senior Men’s Championship, and the Rochester District Men’s and Women’s Championships.

In 2014, Trevor Sluman of Oak Hill battled Stafford’s own Jim Scorse down to the 72nd hole to win the RDGA District Championship in memorable fashion for the first of his three consecutive titles.

That same year, Jenna Hoecker’s RDGA Women’s Championship title at Stafford was equally memorable, as she set the club’s women’s course record (a 65) in the final round.

These events, and others, have established a reputation for the course that is a source of great pride for each Stafford Country Club member.

A view of the Stafford Country Club clubhouse, which has hosted club functions, weddings tournaments and meetings since opening in 1921. (Stafford Country Club)

Two Match Play Titles – One Championship

The 2018 RDGA Match Play Championships – both the men’s and senior championship brackets – get under way on Friday, May 25. The twin Championships have very different histories – but both feature the best of what local amateur tournament golf has to offer. Spectators are welcome to attend all three days of the RDGA Match Play Championships at Stafford, free of charge.

The District Match Play Championship for men is in its 22st edition this year and eight-time champion (and last year’s winner) Jim Scorse of Stafford, past champion James Mason of Oak Hill and last year’s Match Play runner-up Adam Condello of Locust Hill will be among those competing for this year’s title. They will be joining the starting bracket of 24 golfers that begin play at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, playing two single elimination rounds; continuing Saturday with both the Quarterfinal and Semi Final rounds; and concluding Sunday at 7:30 a.m. with the Championship match between the surviving two finalists.

The RDGA Senior Match Play Championship, on the other hand, is only in its fourth year this season, but received such a positive welcome in its first year that the field was expanded last year to accommodate the demand for entries. Defending Senior Match Play Champion Stuart Harris of Locust Hill is back this year to defend his title and will be re-joined by his championship final match runner-up Brad McAreavy from Oak Hill. Starting times for the Senior Match Play brackets and matches begin following the final tee time of the regular Match Play contests.

For both championships, the fields are selected – and seeded – based upon points earned during tournament play the year before, creating an elite atmosphere to open the major championship season for 2018.

The Match Play Championships also have a unique connection to the RDGA District Championship, dating back to the earliest days of the RDGA in 1930. For the first 38 years of the RDGA District Championship, the event was conducted as a match play competition – until 1969, when a 72-hole stroke play format was adopted, which has continued to be used to this day. When the RDGA Match Play Championship was added to the District schedule in 1997, it restored the tradition of top match play competition that had been absent from the RDGA for nearly 30 years.

In addition to crowning Match Play and Senior Match Play Champions following the final matches on Sunday, RDGA Match Play finalists will also earn exemptions into the 2018 RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Memorial, to be hosted by Monroe Golf Club on July 25 to 28.

The Start of a New Chapter

Over the past 80 years, the vision of Stafford’s founding members have been realized and carefully nurtured. With the quiet beauty of its rural farmland setting, Stafford Country Club offers a rich and varied source of recreational and social pleasures for its members and their guests – features that are sure to be enhanced when this year’s RDGA Match Play Championships are held there.

This article was written by RDGA Communications Director Dave Eaton.