Joe Warnick attempts a putt on the 18th green during a qualifying round with Jim Halton and Michael Goldman at the Rogue Valley Country Club Tuesday in Medford.

With a full contingent of returning champions and a host of capable contenders eager to knock them off their perch, the 94th Southern Oregon Golf Championships are already shaping up to be quite a battle at Rogue Valley Country Club.

Fingers crossed, the weather here in Medford will keep interruptions at a minimum as a full field of 416 players embark on match play beginning Thursday morning.

The five-day event, which combines match play golf and social functions galore, concludes with championship finals on Monday.

Beyond air quality issues that have riddled many recent tournaments, there was talk earlier this week about potential thunderstorms during the heart of play at the SOGC.

Tracy Snyder, head professional at RVCC, said those forecasts have downgraded to the potential of just rain Friday night and Sunday, but hopefully nothing that would create a hiccup in the tight schedule of play.

“It’s kind of working out so far for us,” said Snyder, noting a lower air quality index during qualifying rounds Tuesday compared to dangerous levels one week prior. “We’ll take whatever we can get. We’re a little bit concerned about how the rain is going to hurt some of the social functions if it comes, but we were more concerned earlier in the week that the forecasters were talking about thunderstorms. That would really change things on the golf course if that happened.”

Snyder said, knock wood, that he hasn’t ever had to shut down the SOGC for lightning during his tenure at the golf club, and maintaining that record will be crucial to avoid any number of contingency plans.

“We go from light to dark almost every day — and people have plans come next Tuesday — so we can’t really push it out,” he said of the daily schedule of tee times, “so we were definitely brainstorming when they started talking about those thunderstorms. Hopefully that won’t come into play.”

One aspect sure to come into play this week will be tough matchups at every turn.

Ethan DeVore returns to defend his title in the men’s championship, along with 2022 runner-up Jimmy White and a host of young up-and-comers seeking to make their mark in the top division. One such newcomer to watch will be Ty Beyer of Southern Oregon University, who qualified with a 3-under-par 69 and was in line for medalist honors as of press time.

A year ago, DeVore concluded what had been a seven-year quest to win the men’s championship when he won 1 up over White — the 2017 men’s champion — despite being seeded 15th overall. The 2015 Eagle Point High graduate, who also played collegiately at Oregon Tech, previously advanced to the semifinals in 2021 before losing to eventual winner Chris Polski.

Tommy Smith returns after securing his first junior-senior title one year ago. Smith previously won three men’s regular championships (1989, 1999 and 2000) and expects to face a gauntlet of challengers in the likes of last year’s runner-up Scott Wise, medalist in the clubhouse as of Wednesday afternoon Justin Wise (71) and 2019 champion Johnny Mansfield, among others.

This year’s super senior field may be the most competitive of all, with last year’s champion in the senior men, Kevin Klabunde, moving up to a super senior division that already returns two-time defending champion Glen Clark, 2020 champion Bob Dickey and recent Rogue Valley Stroke Play Championships winner Scott Tuttle.

Six super senior golfers shot 79 or better during their qualifying rounds, including 2016 champion and 2022 runner-up Greg Miller.

“It doesn’t matter what division you’re in, there’s some quality golfers in every division and at every age,” said Klabunde, who had spinal surgery in April and opted to make a return to the super senior division he won in 2019.

Klabunde stands two SOGC championships shy of equaling George Mack’s record of 15 total titles in event history, while Clark boasts five total SOGC championships. Tuttle, who is a two-time SOGC champion, carded eight 3s on the back nine at Centennial Golf Club last Saturday to help him claim a victory in the City Championships.

“That super senior division has five past champions in it this year, so it will be a tough one,” said Snyder. “That’s definitely going to be fun to watch.”

Owner of 13 titles, including the past three men’s senior crowns, Klabunde said he hasn’t been at his best recently but he’s hoping that will change beginning Thursday.

“I feel like right now I’m kind of playing uninspired golf but we’ll see if we can turn that around in the next few days,” said Klabunde, 69. “You just have to be extremely patient and you have to have the breaks fall in the right way.”

“Match play is such a different animal,” he added. “I remember one round I shot 4 under and lost. It’s just a matter of getting the good round at the right time or the bad round at the right time, because you can win not playing your best and you can also lose when you’re pretty strong. It’s just a matter of how things fall through.”

Also slated for a return are women’s champion Johnna Nealy and legends champion Dick Brekke.

A year ago, Nealy earned her fifth women’s title to move into a tie with Sybil O’Bryne, who won five straight from 1987-91), and stand one SOGC title shy of the all-time women’s record of six championships shared by Helen Davies and Ann Swanson.

The Grants Pass native recently edged her sister Amanda Nealy for the Grants Pass Golf Club women’s title, and has a good field to challenge in the likes of former medalist Stephanie Johns, prior champions Trina Jones and Terry Levis, Payton Canon and a host of current SOU players.