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2010-22: Birth of NYSGA Hall of Fame, The Pandemic, Record Scoring, More New Championships

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Birth of the NYSGA Hall of Fame

In 2012, the NYSGA created its Hall of Fame “to identify, recognize, and enshrine the state's finest amateur and professional golf competitors, as well as those who have made outstanding contributions to the game throughout New York by their careers as golf teachers, coaches, mentors, and volunteers to the game.”

The inaugural Class of 2012 set the tone, selecting some of the state’s most enduring and iconic competitors, Ray Billows and Don Allen; the patron saint of New York women’s golf, Betty Deeley; two of the most influential golf journalists in the country in Grantland Rice and Frederick Box, and in Bill Tryon, a champion golfer who went on to serve the NYSGA as its president, treasurer and long-time executive committee member.

That initial class of six honorees has been supplemented by five more classes (in 2015, ’17, ’19 and ’22) that have brought in an additional 20 remarkable, passionate people, ranging from professional major champions to people who have dedicated their lives to New York State golf.

The Pandemic

COVID-19 did what World War II didn’t — that is, shut down the NYSGA tournament schedule. The entire 2020 season was canceled due to the extreme uncertainty created by the pandemic and the caution that governments and the golf industry used to protect lives. The good news is, of course, that golf throughout the country came back stronger than ever, with people enjoying the outdoor — and safe — recreation the game offered.

In both the Women’s Amateur and Senior Amateur, the 2021 champions picked up roughly where they were before the pandemic. Kyra Cox, the Women’s Am winner at Teugega, had prevailed before in 2018 and 2015 state championships. The 2021 Women’s Senior Amateur Champion, Kim Kaul built on her prior experience with prior wins in 2015 and 2008. 

The 2021 Men’s Senior champion Daniel Russo from Hagaman, didn’t miss a beat with his victory at the Powelton Club. With that win, he matched his 2019 victory at the Cavalry Club, providing a nice set of bookends to the COVID disruption.

Kyra Cox of South Salem, claimed three NYS Women's Amateur titles in 2015, 2018 and 2021.

Daniel Russo of Hagaman and Kim Kaul of Colden claimed the NYS Senior titles in 2021. Russo previously had won in 2019, while Kaul had also won in 2015 and 2008.

Record Scoring

The 2022 season gave us unprecedented scoring as Charlie Berridge from Wykagyl shot a 14-under-par 270 to win the NYSGA Men’s Amateur at Onondaga to win by three shots over Jason Lohwater from Brook-Lea. 

On the women’s side, 15-year-old Kennedy Swedick needed every shot to take home the trophy at McGregor Links, but she had some good memories in her corner — Swedick had won the New York State Public High School Girls’ Golf Championship at McGregor Links just a month earlier. She channeled that win to a nine-under 207, good for a one-shot victory over Ohio State University junior Lauren Peter. The two finished each round within a shot of each other for all 54 holes and were a staggering 15 shots in front of the rest of the pack at a normally challenging McGregor Links course — shades of Watson and Nicklaus’ “Duel in the Sun''at Turnberry in the 1977 Open Championship. 

Both of these two winning scores were records for their respective events, in line with the inexorable march of lower scores at championship levels of play around the world. Better scoring has been attributed to a number of different changes, including increased distance/shot, better conditioning (of both courses and golfers), and improved ball and club technology. Each of those factors likely played a hand in Swedick’s and Berridge’s records. Don’t count on their records to last long. 

Kennedy Swedick of Albany and Charlie Berridge of Scarsdale won in record-setting fashion in 2022. Swedick won the NYS Women's Amateur at 9-under par 207, while Berridge won the NYS Men's Amateur at 14-under 270.

More New Championships

A slew of new NYSGA championships came online in the 2010s, all with a common thread. In a nod to the realization that four-ball play is America’s most used day-to-day format, the NYSGA created six new state championships:

• Men’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (2011)

• Men’s Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship (2012)

• Amateur Mixed Four-Ball Championship (2013)

• Senior Amateur Mixed Four-Ball Championship (2013)

• Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (2018)

• Women’s Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship (2018)

The six new team events tended to start modestly, but by 2022, they had collectively made a big difference. This year, they will engage more than 350 two-person entries and broaden the appeal and reach of NYSGA events to – in many cases – an otherwise untapped audience. 

By the end of 2022, and buoyed by the success of the team championships, the NYSGA added two additional senior championships that will start in 2023:

• The Men’s Legends Amateur Championship, which is open to golfers at least 70 years old 

• The Men’s Super-Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship, competed among players at least 65 years old.

These two new events point to the importance of senior play in New York. Golfers are living and competing longer, and the NYSGA sees these championships as a great opportunity to provide value to the people who have supported New York golf for years.  

Matt Stasiak of Clarence won the 2013 NYS Men's Amateur in a dramatic final-round battle with Delmar's Victor Fox.

Familiar Faces:

• Finding a fountain of youth, Syracuse’s Teresa Cleland turned the usual progression of amateur/ mid-amateur/ senior amateur on its head by capturing the 2009 and 2010 Women’s Senior Amateur Championships before taking the Women’s Mid-Am three years in a row, from 2011-’13.

• In the 2013 Men’s Am at Schuyler Meadows, Matt Stasiak had been chasing leader Victor Fox since the first round. He finally pulled even with Fox by the time they teed off the 71st hole. Then, Stasiak promptly made a heart-wrenching double bogey, apparently sealing a runner-up finish. However, fortunes flipped on the par-4 final hole as Stasiak hit his best drive of the day. Watching Fox wrestle with the results of a bunkered tee shot, Stasiak knocked it on and drained the birdie putt. Fox missed an eight-foot bogey putt, giving Stasiak a three-shot swing and a rollercoaster one-shot victory. Never give up! 

• In 2012 at Elmira, Dominic Bozzelli captured his second straight NYSGA Men’s Amateur Championship with a sizzling 11-under par 277. The Rochester native and member of the Auburn University golf team turned professional in 2013.

• Bailey Shoemaker joined Kerri Murphy and Nanette Hill as three-time titleists of the NYSGA Girls Junior Amateur Championship. Winning in 2017, ’18 and ’19, Shoemaker was gearing up to take home her record fourth consecutive (under age 18) state junior title in 2020. Those plans were derailed by the COVID-19 epidemic, which shut down all tournament play that entire year. 

Dominic Bozzelli of Pittsford captured the NYS Boys' Sub-Jr, Boys' Jr, and Men's Am each at least once before turning professional. Teresa Cleland of Syracuse is a three-time NYS Women's Mid-Amateur champion and two-time Women's Senior champion.

Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston captured three NYS GIrls' Junior titles in a row from 2017-19. She was only 12 years old during her first win in '17.