The RDGA Championship John H. Ryan, Jr. Memorial was held on Oak Hill's West Course July 14 - July 17 and 15-year old local phenom Gavin Hall demolished the field of local golfers. With rounds of 65-65-68-73 Mr. Hall finished at 13 under 271 and won championship by an astounding 18 shots. The win marked Mr. Hall's second straight Ryan championship. Hall also carded the lowest round each day, except for the final round where Oak Hill's Andrew Kay shot 72.
Two rounds of 65? At 15? In a tournament? I guess he can play. This against a field that included reigning NYS Amateur Champ and Duke bound Yarik Merkulov who recently returned from representing the USA at the Toyota Junior World Cup. Also in the field; Auburn golfer Dominic Bozzelli who just won the prestigous Eastern Amateur Championship with a final round 64 and 265 total.
The crew was well represented with Jim Mason, Brad McAreavy, John Schantz, Shawn Baker, Mike LaBue and the aforementioned Andrew Kay all qualifying for the championship. Sadly, none of us (except for AK) were able to make the cut which fell at 154.
At last notice Mr. Baker has put his clubs in short term storage and was considering quitting the game. Dr. Mason was last seen heading for Cape Cod. Mike LaBue was having a Vodka and tonic (with an orange, not a lemon) and Brad was scheduling games for the next month.
I attempted quitting as well. However, with a golf course in my back yard it's a rather difficult task (especially with new irons in the bag). So my self proclaimed exile lasted all of 24 hours. I played, miserably, on Saturday and saw my psychologist (Dr. Harmon) on Sunday. While waiting for my game to return I will continue to refine my top ten list of reasons why golf sucks and skiing doesn't.
