Celebrating Memphis golf

The Memphis Golf Association was founded in 1941 as an association of the four private golf clubs in Memphis at the time: Chickasaw Country Club, Colonial Country Club, Memphis Country Club, and Ridgeway Country Club. While the MGA has evolved over the past eight-plus decades, its goal of 1941 remains today: Facilitating the crowning of annual champions.

The MGA’s flagship event, the City Amateur, has some of local and national golf’s most prominent names as champions. Among them: World Golf Hall of Fame member Dr. Cary Middlecoff, who twice won the U.S. Open (1949, 1956) and once The Masters (1955); Hillman Robbins, the 1957 U.S. Amateur champion; Southern Golf Hall of Fame member Curtis Person, the 1968 and 1969 U.S. Senior Amateur champion; and another SGA Hall of Fame member, Tim Jackson, the 1994 and 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and member of two Walker Cup teams. All four are members of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.

Though chartered in 1941, the MGA’s roots are deeper. In 1914, the first recorded mention of a men’s golf championship appeared in The Commercial Appeal, with subsequent annual tournaments called “City Golf” hosted by the clubs. Future updates to this page will explore pre-1941 Memphis golf more thoroughly.

Though the first City Am under MGA governance was in 1941, the William J. Condon Trophy, which is awarded annually to the tournament’s winner, has winners’ names etched on it dating to 1939. Here is the list of Condon Trophy winners:

1939 Cary Middlecoff

1940 Cary Middlecoff

1941 Junie Buxbaum

1942 Dean Bailey

1943 William J. Condon

1944 Johnny Cummings Jr.

1945 Lep A. Wenzler

1946 Arthur Moore

1947 Harry Goff

1948 Jimmy Wittenberg

1949 H.P. Childress

1950 Cotton Rockholt

1951 Hillman Robbins Jr.

1952 Hillman Robbins Jr.

1953 Jim Buxbaum

1954 Hillman Robbins Jr.

1955 Shedric McKain

1956 Ronnie Wenzler

1957 Roy Moore Jr.

1958 Max S. Schwartz

1959 Gene Dixon

1960 Curtis Person

1961 Jimmy Wittenberg

1962 David Dixon

1963 Craig Goldate

1964 Jimmy Wittenberg

1965 Tommy Hanlon

1966 Ronnie Wenzler

1967 Bobby Wilson

1968 Jimmy Wittenberg

1969 Tommy McGinnis

1970 Jimmy Wittenberg Jr.

1971 Ira Fenton

1972 Ronnie Wenzler

1973 Denny Smith

1974 Lanny Trottman

1975 Frank Gusmus

1976 Paul Haire

1977 Lee Cheairs

1978 David Apperson

1979 Cary Rawlings

1980 Kirk Bailey

1981 Brad Weaver

1982 David Apperson

1983 David Apperson

1984 Todd Jones

1985 Jimmy Ellis

1986 David Apperson

1987 Steve Metz

1988 Tim Jackson

1989 Kirk Bailey

1990 David Apperson

1991 Jimmy Ellis

1992 Buzz Fly

1993 Tim Jackson

1994 Tim Jackson

1995 Tim Jackson

1996 Josh Gregory

1997 Tim Jackson

1998 Buzz Fly

1999 Jimmy Wittenberg Jr.

2000 Tim Jackson

2001 Bobby O’Brien

2002 Ryan Mayberry

2003 Scott Ellis

2004 Alan Weant

2005 Brice Bailey

2006 Brice Bailey

2007 David Apperson

2008 David Apperson

2009 Buzz Fly

2010 Jonathan Fly

2011 Jonathan Fly

2012 Matt Mitchell

2013 Clayton Ellis

2014 Matt Cooper

2015 Robert Adams

2016 Alan McAfee

2017 Ben Fisher

2018 Chase Harris

2019 Jeff Lee

2020 Aaron Ingles

2021 Matt Cooper

2022 Alan McAfee

2023 Richie Schembechler

2024 Matt Cooper