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The 2026 New York State Men’s Amateur Championship revisits Glens Falls Country Club this week. The historic venue has only hosted the tournament one previous time. In 1962, eventual 11-time winner and NYSGA’s “Golfer of the Century,” Don Allen looked for his second title, after winning the previous year. In a two-hole playoff, his dominance would be disrupted by William Tryon. 

This is the story of Tryon’s triumph, and the dramatic finish of the only other Men’s Amateur at Glens Falls.

The Underdog from Elmira:

Tryon was a familiar name in Chemung County from a young age. A graduate of Elmira Free Academy, he excelled at football, basketball, baseball, and golf. His loaded resume landed him a spot in his alma mater’s athletic hall of fame.

After graduating from Princeton (where he played all three varsity sports) and serving in the Marines, Tryon returned to his hometown of Elmira and worked in insurance. He spent his spare time trying to master golf like his father, who had played in four U.S. Amateurs, and the 1936 U.S. Open.

Entering the 1962 Men’s State Am, Tryon was certainly not the favorite. In the previous championship, Tryon only managed to win one match before getting eliminated with the tournament in match-play format. In the same tournament, Don Allen had taken the crown from John Konsek in the final. Konsek had won three consecutive championships (the only player in NYSGA history to do so).

Additionally, Tryon was coming off of already a long stint of competition. He spent the week before the tournament winning the Finger Lakes Tournament before heading to Glens Falls. Both tournaments combined for 12 consecutive days of competitive golf with four of those being 36-hole affairs.

He built off his momentum from the Finger Lakes victory, by winning his first six matches of the tournament. The final task was 36 holes against the defending champion, Don Allen. 

Word of Tryon’s mojo spread back home in Elmira. Tryon received many telegrams and calls from friends and family from his hometown. Come Sunday, the final day of the championship, Elmira residents ventured all the way to Glens Falls to watch their hometown hero. Tryon was greeted in the clubhouse by folks who had commuted over 200 miles to watch him attempt to paint his first masterpiece. 

Talk about pressure.

The Secret Weapons:

Even though Tryon largely cruised through the opening rounds, he never felt great about his putting. It was never his strong suit. He relied on his ability to hit the ball and accurately. Gerry Dimmick (who later became NYSGA President from 1965-66) knew his friend needed help. It wasn’t their first collaboration either; the pair had won a best-ball tournament against Don Allen and his brother, Ray.

On Saturday night, ahead of the final, Dimmick and Tryon met on the putting green as the elder, Dimmick, shared his advice. In addition, Tryon was informed by his friend that he was playing too fast for his own good, and that he ought to slow down, especially with 36 holes against a titan on the horizon. 

The Showdown:

Dimmick’s advice appeared to instantly pay off as Tryon had done six-shots better than Allen in the morning session, earning a two-hole lead. Putting was of extreme importance come Sunday as a rainstorm interrupted play and made the greens tough to maneuver. 

After the rain delay, Tryon couldn’t keep his morning-momentum missing two putts that both, likely, would’ve won the hole. Allen, on the other hand, won two of the first four holes to even the score. Tryon bounced back to end the 27th hole 2-up, but bogeys on the 29th and 32nd holes of the championship match once again made them all square. 

Allen took the lead on the following hole with a birdie and kept the lead heading to the 36th hole, the par-3 18th at Glens Falls. With his back against the wall, Tryon needed his putter to come through. 28 feet from the cup, the Elmira native drained his birdie try. With Allen only able to par, the match went to a playoff.

On the first playoff hole, a par 5, Tryon was away for his birdie try. From ten feet, he sunk his putt forcing Allen to follow suit. An Allen birdie meant a second playoff hole, this time on a par 3. Again putting first, Tryon made another clutch putt, this time from 35 feet, to force Allen’s hand. This time, the defending champion couldn’t answer, and Elmira’s William Tryon became NYS Men’s Amateur champion for the first time. 

When it mattered most, Tryon made a combined 73 feet of putts on the final three holes. He’d later say, "Throughout Sunday’s match I just kept thinking of what Gerry [Dimmick] had told me.”

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New York golf in the 1960s was stamped by Allen and Tryon. In that decade, the two won six State Amateurs, three each. They’d both enter the NYSGA Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2012. 

The final match of the 1962 NYS Men’s Amateur Championship at Glens Falls would not be the final clash between the two giants. Tryon defeated Allen once again in the final of the 1965 championship at Lancaster Country Club in the Buffalo area. But it was that rainy afternoon in the summer of ‘62 that signaled the arrival of a new alpha. 

Tryon called the match, “the best golfing match I ever played.” With the men’s state amateur returning to Glens Falls Country Club this week for the first time since 1962, we can only hope for similar drama.