We don’t know exactly when “the League” actually began, but way back when before paper copies of the League history were lost, we had records dating back to the mid-70’s indicating who the annual League champions were.  Rogers Corporation’s Chandler AZ Tooling & Equipment Department employees Bob Cole, Wayne Terry, Bernie Stanek, and their boss Dale Ristedt were holders of the early and sometimes multiple League championships in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Of course, back then the League was known as the Rogers Golf League.  However, in the mid 90’s, Rogers spun off their old flexible circuit manufacturing operation in Chandler AZ and renamed it ADFlex Solutions, so we called ourselves the ADFlex Golf League for about 5 years and then, after a short-lived acquisition, to the Innovex Golf League.  That old manufacturing operation, which used to sit on the SW corner of Chandler and Dobson, didn’t make it much past Y2K before they shut it down and shortly thereafter bulldozed it to make way for what sits there today.  Nevertheless, the League not only survived, but actually thrived in the years following because so many of the former Rogers employees and the few that remained with Rogers through all the years kept in close contact both off and on the golf course.  Over the years, the League has been contested at Dobson Ranch in Mesa, San Marcos in Chandler, Oakwood in Sun Lakes, Ocotillo in Chandler, Lone Tree in Chandler, Whirlwind on the Gila River Indian Reservation, and now down to Iron Oaks in Sun Lakes.

We also don’t know when the first Rogers Open golf tournament was held, but we do know that it also goes back at least into the late 70’s.  In the 80’s and beyond, we’ve held our annual year-ending tournament oftentimes in late September and sometimes (especially recently) in December at venues such as San Marcos, Oakwood, Superstition Springs, Red Mountain Ranch, Ocotillo, Western Skies, Seville and Lone Tree.

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However, in 2020 during COVID, Rogers Corporation couldn’t associate themselves with anything that included more than a handful of people getting together in one place without masks on, so they dropped their sponsorship of the League and year-ending Championship.  Ever resilient, several members of the League got together and quickly formed what we now call Silicon Desert Golf (https://www.silicondesertgolf.org/).  Soon thereafter, the Silicon Desert Golf League and more importantly the Silicon Desert Invitational benefitting ALS were established by Silicon Desert Golf.