PGA of America Golf Professional Ryan McGinnis is an award-winning instructor and a digital golf content creator with his own You Tube channel. On Monday, McGinnis added another accolade to the list: Central New York PGA Stroke Play Champion.
In a hotly contested tournament, McGinnis separated himself from a tight leaderboard in the second round to claim his first Section major at Cortland Country Club. McGinnis (Turning Stone Resort Casino) fired back-to-back rounds of 70 to earn the title by two strokes over two-time champion Michael Deuel.
After a second-place finish a year ago at Seven Oaks Golf Course, McGinnis enjoyed his winning moment. Among his career honors include 2024 Section Teacher and Coach of the Year Award, 2022 Patriot Award and 2020 Player Development Award. He is also active on multiple social media outlets through his company Ryan McGinnis Golf.
“Yeah, this feels great,” McGinnis said. “It’s been a long couple of years since I last won. It feels really good to have all the hard work pay off.”
After the morning round, only three strokes separated nine players, including McGinnis at two-under-par 70. Two-time champion Mark Tucker (Cazenovia CC) was the first-round medalist with a three-under 69.
The leaderboard remained unsettled early in the second round with Deuel (En-Joie GC), Tucker, Nick Serafino (Timber Banks GC) and McGinnis battling it out.
Deuel started with an eagle on the 482-yard first hole and birdies on No. 2 and No. 4. But McGinnis ripped off five straight birdies (holes 1-5) to move into first place.
“I started off hot the second round, I was thinking 50-something was in the equation,” McGinnis said. “But then I came back to earth. I still finished strong and hit a lot of good shots coming in.”
McGinnis admitted to watching the leaderboard during the final round. He finished at 4-under 140 overall.
“Yeah I was looking at the scoreboard just to see where they were to see when to be aggressive and when not to be,” McGinnis said. “Coming into the last four or five holes I was looking.”
Deuel had four bogeys against two birdies on the back nine which hindered his chances to catch McGinnis, who recorded two bogeys and one birdie.
Deuel recorded rounds of 70 and 74 for a 2-under 142 to place second. Tucker took third with a 69-74 to finish 1-under 143.
The Stroke Play Championship is one of the Central New York PGA’s major tournaments and worth double points in the Rolex Player of the Year standings.
Two-time defending champion Eric Manning (Elm Tree GC) finished tied for fourth with Serafino.