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1960-1969: Big Three of Men's Amateur, New York Girls' Junior Debut, Diehl Hits Trifecta

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Big Three of Men's Amateur

The NYSGA Men’s Amateur in the 1960s was primarily a tale of three golfers whose exploits spanned the decade: John Konsek, Don Allen and William Tryon.

John Konsek, the 1957 NYSGA Boys’ Junior Amateur champion from Buffalo, was the first golfer to record three consecutive Men’s State Amateur wins with victories in 1958 at Yahnundasis, 1959 at Troy, and 1960 at Locust Hill in Rochester. At Yahnundasis, an 18-year-old Konsek bested 37-year-old John Ward, 4 & 2. A New York State Amateur runner-up in 1949 ’56 and ’58, Ward was a veteran of national-level campaigns who later became president of the NYSGA.

Konsek’s second win came at the expense of Buffalo’s Ward Wettlaufer, a player like so many in New York with national credentials. Wettlaufer would capture the Porter Cup, Eastern Amateur and North and South Amateur championships, played on the victorious 1959 Walker Cup squad and may be the finest contestant to never win the State Amateur. Konsek, the reigning Big 10 champion from Purdue, dispatched Wettlaufer, 4 & 3.

In 1960, Konsek made NYSGA history and captured his third straight State Am in another all-Buffalo final, this time against Edwin Kaczor.

Only one finals match kept the Konsek train from moving forward. This time, the year was 1961, and Konsek’s barrier was Don Allen, an insurance executive from Rochester. Allen won and — in just a few short years — would go on to twice challenge Konsek’s consecutive-wins record.

Article on NYS Amateur at 1961 Onondaga G&CC between John Konsek and Don Allen. Syracuse Post-Standard Newspaper.

With victories in 1961, ’63, ’64, ‘70, ’72 and ’73, Allen would emerge as second only to seven-time champion Ray Billows in State Men’s Amateur triumphs. After failing to successfully defend in 1962 in the final against former Princeton football player Bill Tryon, Allen got back on the winning track in 1963 with a 7-&-6 win at Knollwood against Richard Rooney of Clinton.

Allen successfully defended in 1964 over Schenectady’s Ed O’Keefe at Leatherstocking in Cooperstown. Allen made the final again the following year against his nemesis, Bill Tryon, reaching the championship finals over an astounding five consecutive years (1961-65).

Don Allen of Rochester, is a six time-winner of the NYS Amateur (1961-73).

Yet again it was Tryon who foiled Allen’s run for three championships in a row. In a tense battle that came down to the 36th hole. Allen had a 20-inch putt to win the match, but “jerked his putt within inches,” according to one sobering account, and ended up losing on the 38th hole. While hard to imagine for someone who played on two Walker Cup teams and in three Masters, the miss may have expressed the pressure that John Konsek’s three-in-a-row performance held over Allen.

Tryon would win the 1968 State Amateur at Yahnundasis in a finals match with O’Keefe, the 1964 finalist from Mohawk in Schenectady. O’Keefe presented little resistance to Tryon, losing 7 & 6 and handing the champion his third State Amateur title in seven years.

Bill Tryon of Elmira won the NYS Amateur three times during the 1960s ('62, '65, '68). He also served as the NYSGA's President from 1969-70.

New York Girls’ Junior Debut

By 1963, the NYSGA had recognized the need to conduct a championship for the state’s growing population of girl golfers. Following the basic template provided by the Boys’ Junior Championship, the NYSGA scheduled its first Girls’ Junior at Monroe in Rochester for girls aged 18 and younger.

Several events validated the NYSGA’s initiative. Gail Sykes, the 1964 champion, won the 1965 USGA Junior Girls Championship in Colorado. Just two years later Doll Story not only won her second NYSGA Girls’ Junior, she also won the USGA Junior Girls Championship, this time in California. Perhaps more than coincidentally, both Sykes and Story were pupils of PGA professional Tom Creavy, one of the state’s top instructors.

Doll Story of Clayville (left) and Gail Sykes of Ballston Spa, both claimed NYS Girls' Junior and U.S. Girls' Junior titles during the 1960s.

Soon thereafter, New York products Cathy Morse and Mary Lawrence were both USGA Girls Junior runners-up in 1972 and ’73, respectively, stamping a distinct New York State flavor on the national girls’ golf scene. 

The 1965 champion at Teugega was Debbie Austin from Oneida. Austin played later on the LPGA, winning seven tournaments, including five in 1977. She was named that year’s LPGA Player of the Year.

Diehl Hits Trifecta

Rochester native Terry Diehl, born in 1949, became the first player in history to capture the New York State Boys’ Amateur (1964, Cornell University GC), Junior Amateur (1966, Moon Brook) and Men’s Amateur (1969, Elmira). His State Amateur championship came the same year he was named an NCAA All-American at the University of Georgia. Diehl turned professional in 1971, claiming 20 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events. 

Throughout the past 100 years, the only other two golfers to accomplish this trifecta were also standouts from the Rochester area: Dominic Bozzelli (2005, 2007 and 2011-12) and Yaroslav Merkulov (2006, 2008-09 and 2009).

Terry Diehl of Rochester, was the first to win the NYS Sub-Jr., NYS Boys' Junior, and NYS Men's Am when he accomplished the feat in the 1960s.

'60s Familiar Faces:

• In 1966, Syracuse’s 17-year-old Nick Raasch became the youngest-ever victor in the Men’s State Amateur, held at The Concord Course.

• In 1967 Plandome’s John Baldwin captured the NYS Amateur, Long Island Amateur and Metropolitan Amateur championships, a triple crown that has never been matched.

• Ballston Spa native Ronald Philo, Sr. won both NYS Junior titles, with the Sub-Junior in 1961 at CC of Troy, then the Boys’ Junior the following year in 1962 at Niagara Falls.
  

Nick Raasch of Syracuse, 1966 NYS Amateur champion and 1965 NYS Junior champion. He became the youngest to win the NYS Amateur at the age of 17.