Derryfield Country Club of Manchester will be hosting the three-day 55th annual CYO Red Ryan Golf Tournament, which begins today with medal round play.

The tournament is open to any New Hampshire resident or any registered member of the New Hampshire Golf Clubs, male or female, for the Mite Division (Under 13-years-old), Junior Division (Under 16) and the Intermediate Division (Under 19).

Today beginning at 7:45 a.m., an 18-hole medal round will be held for intermediate and junior division players while a nine-hole medal round is scheduled for the mite division players.

Medal-round scores will determine the participants for match play in each division. Match play begins Wednesday (prelims, quarterfinal rounds) and concludes Thursday with the semifinals and finals.

Match play starts at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tournament chairman Doug Smith mentioned a few reasons as to why the Red Ryan tttourney has lasted 55 years.

“For starters, the city has always donated the course to us,” said Smith. “So it’s really inexpensive to register. We only charge $25 and up until 10 years ago it was only $10 to play. We’ve also have had a great partnership with Coca-Cola.”

On Sunday, 2002 Red Ryan medalist winner Scott Stallings won his second career PGA Tournament, claiming the True South Classic tournament with a two stroke victory at the Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss.

“I tell kids that Scott played in the Red Ryan tournament and tied a tournament record with a four-under 66 score for intermediate medalist honors in 2002,” said Smith. “The following year, he won the intermediate title. Now 10 years later he’s already won two PGA titles and he’s ranked around 98th in the country.”

Smith said Stallings actually hailed from Tennessee, but resided in North Hampton during the summer, which qualified him for the tournament. “Scott still tells me that winning the Red Ryan tournament is still one of his biggest wins. It’s a great story.”

Smith said there’s 105 golfers in the field this season. A total of 32 players will compete in the mite division, 42 in the juniors and 31 in the intermediate division.

“Ted Foster, who runs a camp in the area, has 20 golfers who registered for our event,” said Smith. “So we’ve got about 15 or 16 more golfers signed up than last year, which is great news.”

Austin Fox of Hooksett will return to defend the intermediate championship. He defeated Chase Dembisky of Amherst, 1-up, in the championship flight finals last season. Dembisky has also registered to play this season.

“We have a policy in place where the defending champ gets an automatic No. 1 seed the following year if he or she is eligible to play,” said Smith. “Austin has declined it and said he wants to earn a championship flight berth in the medal round. That says something about his confidence as a player. He shot a 70 last year and says he wants to match or beat the 66 score Stallings shot in 2002.”

Joseph Bowker of Weare will also return to defend his junior championship. Bowker defeated Jalen Rines of New Ipswich, 5 and 4, in the junior championship flight finals last year. Rines is registered to compete in the intermediate division this season.

There will be a new mite champion crowned this season. Ian McDonald of Claremont won the mite title last year but is now old enough to compete for the junior championship.

An awards ceremony is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. First- and second-place finishers in all flights in each division will be honored. Smith said the flight championship winners this week will receive free tickets to the 10th annual PGA Deutsche Bank Championship, held annually on Labor Day weekend at the Tournament Players Club of Boston in Norton, Mass.

Other awards from the Ryan Tournament include the Outstanding Golfer of the Tournament, Rookie of the Year (given to a first time competitor) and low medal score in the mite, junior and intermediate divisions.

There will be a closest-to-the-pin competition during the medal round in all divisions. If rain delays or postpones the tournament, the event will be extended into Friday, Smith said.