RDGA Senior Championship Returns to Irondequoit CC After a 23 Year Absence
The modern clubhouse at Irondequoit Country Club is perched atop a low rise offers a commanding view over much of the club's golf course. Although the clubhouse was completely renovated in 2009, Irondequoit Country Club is one of the oldest golf facilties in the area, celebrating its centennial in 2016.
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FOLLOW RESULTS from the 2018 RDGA SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP at IRONDEQUOIT CC:
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Two years ago, Irondequoit Country Club celebrated it's centennial anniversary - a landmark milestone among the many historic clubs that make up the rich history of the Rochester area golf scene, and a longer presence than some of the area's other top private clubs.
With such a long history, Irondequoit has played host to many RDGA Championship events through the years - including, most recently, the RDGA District Championship and RDGA Women's Championship in 2013 and the RDGA Junior Championships in 2002.
When Irondequoit hosts the 2018 RDGA Senior Championships on August 28 and 29, however, it will have been 23 years since the top male amateurs from the Rochester area, ages 55 and above, competed on its' classic Donald Ross-designed championship golf course for the District Senior title.
What the Senior competitors will find when they return is one of the area's most challenging Ross designs - in a region that boasts six original Donald Ross courses. And while many Donald Ross courses have been modified through the years, Irondequoit proudly boasts that it is one of the very few in the world that has remained true to its original design and specifications.
The course is a par-72 that plays to 6,830 yards from the championship Black Tees; three of the holes were ranked by the PGA Tour among the toughest 50 holes on the Nationwide Tour, when it hosted an event there between 2005 and 2008. While Irondequoit is one of the most scenic courses in the Rochester District, it is also among the top ten most difficult. For the 2018 RDGA Senior Championship, Irondequoit will be playing between 6,000 and 6,600 yards, depending on the four different age-based flights in the Championship.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, August 29 and 30, the RDGA Senior Championship field - ranging in age from 55 to 82 - will be put to the test as the Championship returns to the Irondequoit Country Club for the seventh time in the event's history, which traces its' origins back to 1938.
A Course Steeped in History
Through the years, Irondequoit Country Club has stood the test of time as one of the Rochester area’s oldest private clubs, offering a challenging test to those of any skill level who play there.
First opened in 1916, Irondequoit's golf course was designed by famed Scottish golf course architect Donald Ross. Ross was hired to design a nine-hole course on the hilly East Avenue terrain. With horses and men, he fashioned a tract of 3,100 yards containing three par threes, three par fours and three par fives. The course was played twice, totaling 6,200 yards, and although relatively short in distance, Ross compensated for this by creating a challenging layout over the hilly terrain, which produced many sidehill, downhill, and uphill lies, all commanding a golfer's best shot.
 The rolling hills and tree-lined fairways at Irondequoit CC come alive during the Autumn.
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Over the years, course officials have planted and removed a number of trees. Remnants of the early efforts are the generous Fir trees dividing the third and fifth holes. Although now mature, when those trees were young, they created a lush and thick forest where golf balls were easily lost. Today they can create obstacles for balls that stray to the right from either fairway.
Another unique feature of the course is the tall oak tree in the middle of the seventh hole, creating challenges for the better players on the drive, and for less skilled players on their second shot.
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In 1952, a second nine was added when land was purchased from Oak Hill Country Club, whose famed East Course sits adjacent to Irondequoit. The new property incorporates a meandering creek that comes into play on several holes. While hills are not present on the back nine, and while the back nine contains only one par three and one par five, it is made difficult by its tree lined fairways, long and demanding par fours, the meandering creek, and undulating greens. Many local players believe that the thirteenth hole, a long and up-hill par four with a creek at 300 yards - and featuring an approach to a small, elevated and well bunkered green - is the most difficult par four in the Rochester District.
Today, the course plays at 6,830 yards, with three of the holes ranked by the PGA Tour among the toughest 50 on the 2005 Nationwide Tour (holes 7, 8, and 17). The new tees added on holes 8, 11 and 17 have stretched the length of the course and will provide ample challenge for the contestants in the 2018 RDGA Senior Championship.
Irondequoit's original clubhouse was designed by Herbert Stern, one of Rochester’s leading architects, but was destroyed by fire in 1929. The building was replaced with an art deco structure which was remodeled in 1950 to accommodate a growing membership and again renovated in 1980.
In May of 2009 an extensive remodelling and renovation of the existing interior spaces and the exterior of the clubhouse was completed. In addition to the clubhouse renovations, a plaza was created to provide a dramatic entrance to the pool, snack bar and seating area overlooking our facilities. The exterior of the club received a facelift with new stucco finish and rooflines reminiscent of the prominent villa style mansions along East Avenue.
In addition to the storied golf course, Irondequoit Country Club has four tennis courts, a swimming pool and two platform tennis courts. The club offers its members superior recreational experiences, active golf and tennis programs, recreational swimming, area famous dining, and a family-friendly atmosphere in a convenient suburban location.
Golf operations at Irondequoit are directed by PGA Head Professional Steve Bordner, while the grounds and golf course are expertly cared for by Steve Puccia, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Overall management of the club is overseen by Alan Cohen, a veteran general manager with more than 25 years of experience in the golf services industry.
The 433-yard, par-4 opening hole at Irondequoit provides a stern challenge right off the first tee.
A Challenging Layout for
Amateurs and Professionals Alike
During the last week of August, Irondequoit Country Club will play host to most of the best men's senior amateur golfers in the Rochester area for the 2018 RDGA Senior Championship. With such a long history, Irondequoit has been host to many major championship events through the years.
In addition to the RDGA Senior Championship, Irondequoit has hosted the RDGA District Championship John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial six times, most recently in 2013 when Gavin Hall won his third District title during the same summer that he also qualified for the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur Championships. With the victory, Hall joined a prestigious list of past RDGA champions who won at Irondequoit – a list that dates back to the first RDGA Championship hosted by the club in 1955.
Bill Corey won that first RDGA title at Irondequoit in 1955, followed by two of the biggest names in local amateur golf history – six-time RDGA champion Don Allen of CCR in 1962, and eight-time RDGA champion Chip Lillich of Oak Hill in 1969. And the next time Irondequoit hosted the District Championship – in 1977 – the title was won by an up-and-coming 20-year-old amateur from Greece named Jeff Sluman, who would go on to capture the PGA Championship 11 years later. And, in 1989, the Country Club of Rochester’s Joe Wilson won the RDGA Championship there in what was, to date, his only District title.
The District Championship was absent from Irondequoit for another 23 years prior to Hall's victory - but it did host the RDGA Junior Championship in 2002, one of eight times that it has hosted that event through the years.
In addition to the many RDGA Championships hosted by Irondequoit, the club has also hosted its share of famous golfers and high-profile tournaments during it's 100-plus year history.
In the early 1990s, Irondequoit hosted several annual one-day pro-am charity fundraisers – the Strong Memorial PGA Pro-Am – featuring the likes of David Toms, Lanny Wadkins, Scott Hoch and Paul Azinger, among many others.
Earlier this month, Irondequoit's most recent experience with hosting major championship golf occurred when the New York State Men's Amateur Championship was held there. A three-day, 72-hole stroke play championship, Irondequoit produced an exciting finish to the 2018 State Men's Amateur, with Pittsford's Will Thomson edging out 2018 RDGA District Championship winner Chris Blyth by one shot on the final hole of play.
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 Irondequoit 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 conducted as an 18-hole, flighted, medal play competition in four age groups, Irondequoit hosted the event three times between 1944 and 1961. Named, at the time, as the "Clint Patchen Memorial Senior Championship," honoring the long-time Durand Eastman Golf Club delegate and RDGA Board Member, Jack Johnston (in 1944) and Dr. George Trainor (in 1954) were among the early RDGA Senior Champions crowned at Irondequoit.
In the "modern era" of the RDGA Senior Championship, Irondequoit was again an early favorite to host the event, welcoming senior golfers twice in four years, in 1974 and 1977, with Oak Hill's Robert Hoff winning the title there during that period.
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 the 6,600-yard Black Tees during the 2018 RDGA Senior Championship). Contestants in the Masters Division will play from the 6,300-yard Blue/White Tees, while the Legends Division will play from the 6,000-yard White Tees.
As one last measure of incentive, the top-three overall finishers plus ties (playing from the Championship Black Tees) will earn exemption into the 2019 RDGA Championship John H. Ryan Memorial at Penfield Country Club.
The 510-yard, par-5 ninth hole at Irondequoit Country Club is the longest hole on the course and requires an accurate drive from a tight, tree-lined tee box, featuring an undulating fairway that leads to an elevated green surrounded by deep bunkers on both sides.
Portions of this article were written by RDGA Communications Director Dave Eaton.