Past RDGA Men's Champions

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 will change - 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 handicaps. 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 four repeat champions, including Monroe Golf Club’s John Kircher, winner of four RDGA District Championship titles, and Stafford Country Club’s Jim Scorse, who has five RDGA titles to his credit. More recently, in 2010, 15-year-old phenomenon Gavin Hall became the first back-to-back District Champion since Lillich in 1986, winning his second of three RDGA titles to date. More recently, Trevor Sluman - the nephew of pro tour golfer and 1977 RDGA winner Jeff Sluman - won the RDGA Championship three consecutive years between 2014 and 2016, before declaring his professional status.

In 2019, the 89th RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Memorial was hosted by Penfield Country Club, which had previoisly hosted only two other District Championships.

In winning the 2019 RDGA District Championship, Merkulov overcame years of health-related struggles with his game. He also became the second member of the 2009 Williamson Cup-winning team - following Gavin Hall - to win the District title.

In 2020, the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial returns to famed Oak Hill Country Club on July 21 through 25 - to be conducted on the club's West Course, one of two original Donald Ross designs.

This year, the decision has been made to re-imagine the Ryan as a three-round, 54-hole competition. All players who enter will still be guaranteed to play three rounds, including: the Tuesday practice round on July 21, as well as the first two rounds of play, on Thursday and Friday, July 23 and 24, with a cut to the low 40 players and ties after 36 holes. This is the same format in which the Ryan has been conducted for the past several years. The one change is that those who advance past the 36-hole cut will then play in the one, final round, scheduled for Saturday, July 25.

This year will mark the 11th time in the 90-year history of the Championship - and the first time since 2010 - that the RDGA's premier Championship returns to Oak Hill. There are several exemptions from qualifying for some select players - including District Championship winners from the past five years and the top-40 finishers and ties from the most recent Championship. CLICK HERE for the full list of players exempt from qualifying for this year's RDGA District Championship.

For those players not exempt from qualifying, there is no restriction on entering an RDGA District Championship Qualifier - aside from being a male member with an official RDGA/USGA Handicap Index supplied by the RDGA and, that each player may only enter one of two Qualifiers, not both. The first RDGA District Championship Qualifier of 2020 is scheduled for June 20 at Chili Country Club and the second, on June 24, at Reservoir Creek Golf Club.