JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Above the earlier 68 occasions the Sunnehanna Beginner Event for Champions has occurred, its status all through the golfing planet has only developed.
This coming Wednesday commences a new chapter at one of the major amateur golfing tournaments in the country.
A seven-function gauntlet called the Elite Beginner Golfing Series kicks off at Sunnehanna Nation Club.
“It’s fantastic for the club,” Sunnehanna Newbie Co-Chairman John Yerger explained. “This being the to start with event in the Elite Newbie Golf Series, which is truly likely to be a huge offer within just beginner golf, and certainly heading to be adopted not throughout the country, but in a ton of features, throughout the entire world. It’s a major, massive deal.”
The Elite Beginner Golf Series will attribute a summertime-extended levels of competition – the Elite Beginner Cup. Working with the 7 series function final results from the Globe Amateur Golfing Position (WAGR) as the Elite Newbie Cup point method, prime finishers in the remaining standings will gain exemptions into the PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, USGA Championships and other professional enjoying possibilities.
The 1st PGA Tour occasion to guidance the EAGS and give an exemption to the Elite Newbie Cup winner is the Butterfield Bermuda Championship for their function in Oct.
The 6 other tournaments in the Elite Beginner Golfing Collection contain the Northeast Novice (June 22-25 Wannamoisett State Club Rumford, Rhode Island) North and South Novice (June 26-July 2 Pinehurst Resort & Nation Club, Pinehurst, North Carolina) Trans-Mississippi Novice (July 6-9 Denver State Club, Denver, Colorado) Southern Amateur (July 13-16 Sea Island Golf Club, St. Simons Island, Georgia) Pacific Coastline Novice (July 19-22 Columbia Edgewater Nation Club, Portland, Oregon) and Western Novice (Aug. 1-6 Exmoor Country Club, Highland Park, Illinois).
Above Sunnehanna’s extensive history, 44 contestants have received 96 majors with 38 of those people championships coming considering the fact that 2000. Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods are a handful of gamers that have performed at Sunnehanna around the previous 9 a long time, heading again to the invitational that started in 1936.
This year’s discipline for the four-day event is numbered at 101. A crop of acquainted names along with some new faces should really give the tournament a solid blend of new and outdated.
“Palmer Jackson, who finished fourth past yr, he’s from Murrysville,” Yerger explained the field.
“He received the (2022) Jones Cup. Preston Summerhays is clearly the popular title which is returning. He gained the tournament in 2020.
“He’s an exceptional young participant. He was Pac-12 Freshman of the 12 months (at Arizona State).
“His family’s status within just gold speaks for by itself. They are golf royalty. We’re thrilled to have him back.
“Overall, it’s type of a new field in quite a few respects. We missing Travis Vick, who completed runner-up and 3rd the last two many years, to the U.S. Open. We have a great deal of new faces. We’re psyched to see a different winner.”
Summerhays’ father, Boyd Summerhays, performed in the 1997 Sunnehanna Beginner. Boyd Summerhays was a three-time Junior Environment Winner and a 4-time AJGA All-American who performed at Oklahoma State and was on the PGA Tour. He now is a coach.
Nick Gabrelcik, a 2021 semifinalist at the U.S. Newbie at Oakmont Country Club, and Nathan Smith, captain of the 2025 U.S. Walker Cup staff, are slated to perform at Sunnehanna as effectively.
There will be 105 gamers from 21 unique states competing for six spots in Sunday’s qualifier. Well known names in the area consist of nearby goods Derek Hayes, a 4-time Town Golf Championship winner, and Paul Pentz. Sean Karl Dobson, a climbing freshman at Stanford, 2020 Sunnehanna competitor Gregor Meyer and 2021 Pennsylvania Beginner champion John Peters are prime names to stick to as well.
Though a lot of traditions have stayed the same at Sunnehanna, a new scoreboard will be installed on the class to continue to be up to date in the regular arms race.
“You’re going to see an LED (light-weight-emitting diode), digital scoreboard guiding the 16th hole, which I consider is likely to be an intriguing addition that you normally see at professional situations,” Yerger stated.
Yerger was swift to point out the party would not be attainable without the aid of close to 130 volunteers.
“We’re the only tournament in just the Elite Beginner Golfing Sequence that is operate completely by volunteers,” Yerger said. “I believe the just one factor we all want to genuinely emphasize is the match wouldn’t be continued without the need of the aid of Johnstown. Ninety-five per cent of our volunteers appear from outside of this club. 30-5 percent of our housing comes from outside the house of this club. The base line is mainly because of the generosity of the persons that reside in this article, we’re equipped to keep on a terrific golfing tradition that absolutely everyone normally takes delight in.”
Commencing Wednesday, the event is no cost and open to the public.
The club’s hospitality keeps golfers wanting to arrive back again.
“The players and their people rave about the experience,” Yerger claimed. “The friendliness, about how issues are accomplished, about how folks are handled. It sets us apart from every person else.”
Jake Oswalt is a duplicate editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Abide by him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.