The signature hole at Wayne Hills Country Club, the par-3 seventh, features an elevated tee shot that requires accuracy. The green has water on the left and bunkers on the right and, depending upon pin placement, can provide some treacherous putts. Wayne Hills hosts its first RDGA Senior Championship on August 26 and 27.
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FOLLOW RESULTS from the 2019 RDGA SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP at WAYNE HILLS CC:
CLICK HERE for the leaderboard and results from the 2019 RDGA Senior Championship |
As Wayne Hills Country Club celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, it remains one of the most esteemed semi-private 18-hole championship facilities east of the Genesee River – if not the entire Rochester area. Given that, it seems hard to believe that the club has never hosted a Rochester District Golf Association Championship.
This month, the RDGA will correct this oversight when Wayne Hills hosts its first RDGA Championship event – the 2019 District Senior Championships – on August 26 and 27. Although the club, located just outside the Wayne County village of Lyons, has hosted a number of New York State Amateur Championships through the years, this will be the first opportunity for Rochester-area golfers to compete for a District title there.
What many of the top senior men in the area, ages 55 and above, will find when they tour the par-72 layout is a course that features beautifully manicured fairways and greens and features several holes with water. For the 2019 RDGA Senior Championship, Wayne Hills will be playing between 5,500 and 6,600 yards, depending on the four different age-based flights in the Championship.
On Monday and Tuesday, August 26 and 27, the RDGA Senior Championship field – ranging in age from 55 to 77 – will be put to the test as the Championship visits Wayne Hills Country Club for the first time in the event’s history.
An East Side Gem With a
Championship Pedigree
Situated almost halfway between Rochester and Syracuse, Wayne Hills Country Club has served the communities on Rochester’s East Side for the past six decades, providing private club accommodations as a public golf facility. Among its’ more famous members, past and present, has been Syracuse University Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim, who grew up in nearby Lyons.
Designed by E. Lawrence Packer and built in 1959 by Brent Wadsworth, the 18-hole layout at Wayne Hills features many challenges. Water is featured prominently on seven holes – including the signature par-3 seventh hole that has a green guarded by water to the front and left and by a bunker to the right of the green.Although Wayne Hills has never hosted an RDGA Championship event, it has hosted several New York State Championships – including the 1974 State Men’s Amateur Championship, which was won by George Burns, who later went on to enjoy a successful PGA Tour career.
Other Championships hosted by Wayne Hills include the 2008 State Women’s Amateur (won by Rochester’s Christy Schultz), the 1994 State Mid Amateur (won by Dave Benedict of Brook-Lea Country Club), the 2010 State Men’s Senior Championship, the 2013 State Women’s Senior Championship and the 1985 State Boys Amateur Championship.
In addition to the storied golf course, Wayne Hills offers an open-to-the-public restaraunt, operated by Sam Osmen, who is in the midst of a four-year contract to serve as Steward through 2021. Osmen, who brings a wealth of experience from many years in the restaurant business oversees the club’s restaurant and snack bar. Diners can enjoy he casual atmosphere as well as a magnificent view of the the golf course from the main dining room.
Golf operations at Wayne Hills are directed by PGA Head Professional Tim Phelps, while the grounds and golf course are expertly cared for by Lannon Townsend, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Overall management of the club is overseen by a Board of Directors, led by current President Mike DeRenzo.
Local Seniors to Compete for a
Major Championship With a Long History
Tracing its origins back to 1938, the RDGA Senior Championship is one of the longest-running annual championships on the RDGA calendar. Entries are open to all amateur male golfers age 55 and over (as of the beginning of each year’s competition) who have an official USGA GHIN Handicap issued by an RDGA Member Club.
As Wayne Hills Country Club prepares to host many of the area’s better 55-and-over amateurs for this year’s RDGA Senior Championship, it will be continuing in a long tradition of hosting the event.During the earliest years of the District Senior Championship, when it was known as as the “Clint Patchen Memorial Senior Championship,” honoring the long-time Durand Eastman Golf Club delegate and RDGA Board Member, the event was conducted as an 18-hole, flighted, medal play competition in four age groups. Among those early Senior Champions was Dr. George Trainor of the Country Club of Rochester who was also a District Champion in 1940.
In the “modern era” of the RDGA Senior Championship, Oak Hill’s Robert Hoff dominated the event in the 1970s and 80s, winning the title nine times between 1975 and 1988.
More recently, other past RDGA District Champions have also claimed RDGA Senior titles, including Dr. Jim Infantino in 1995, Don Allen in 1994 and 1999, Chip Lillich in 1996, Ken Andrychuk in 2002, 2003 and 2006 and Bob Chalanick in 2012 and 2015.
Following several changes through the years, the format of the RDGA Senior Championship today features four age-based divisions: Senior (ages 55-59), Super Senior (ages 60-64), Masters (ages 65-69) and Legends (ages 70 and over). Beginning in 2015, the RDGA Senior Championship was changed once more – shortening the competition from a three-day, 54-hole format to a two-day, 36-hole format.
Since 2008, the overall RDGA Senior Champion has been determined as the competitor with the lowest score from among the Senior and Super Senior Divisions (both will play from Wayne Hills’ 6,638-yard Blue Tees during the 2019 RDGA Senior Championship). Contestants in the Masters Division will play from the 6,281-yard White Tees, while the Legends Division will play from the 5,587-yard Black Tees.
As one last measure of incentive, the top-FIVE overall finishers plus ties (playing from the Championship Blue Tees) as well as the winners from each age flight will earn exemptions into the 2020 RDGA Championship John H. Ryan Memorial at Oak Hill Country Club.
The short par 4 No. 6 hole at Wayne Hills features a large fairway bunker on the left. The tee shot is blind and should be aimed just right of that bunker. The green features bunkers both left and right.
Portions of this article were written by RDGA Communications Director Dave Eaton.
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