English
EspañolJOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown golf team will serve as the host school during the NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Super Regional Tournament to be played at Sunnehanna Country Club May 7-9.
Throughout four days – including three tournament rounds and a practice session – 108 players, their coaches, families and fans will travel to the Westmont course, bringing an estimated $100,000 into the region’s hotels, according to Pitt-Johnstown golf coach Cody Trabert, who noted that total doesn’t include money spent on food, fuel or shopping in the area.
“We’re just excited to be able to bring teams from all over the entire northeastern United States and show off the golf course,” Trabert said of the 20-team event.
“I think it will be great for the community with teams staying in the hotels, and family, friends and supporters coming into town. They’ll stay in hotels and go out to all of our local restaurants. It’s going to be a great win-win situation for the community, Pitt-Johnstown and Sunnehanna.”
Sunnehanna Amateur co-chairman John Yerger was the driving force in connecting Pitt-Johnstown, the NCAA and Sunnehanna Country Club.
“The NCAA Division II regional championship will be four nights,” Yerger said. “Just the teams alone and rules officials – they’re domiciled at four different hotels – we reserved close to 100 hotel rooms for that event.
“For every player that comes here, you’re probably going to see one to two people come to watch their child or members of their team play,” Yerger said. “The multiplier is not insignificant.”
Playing on the Albert W. Tillinghast-designed Sunnehanna Country Club course also will provide host Pitt-Johnstown with some historic clout as the NCAA event unfolds.
“Golf in this area, especially having Sunnehanna with a rich history, is so special,” Pitt-Johnstown Athletic Director Abby Gearhart said. “All the schools that are participating in the regional are really excited to play on a course that hosts a lot of amateur and pro-am tournaments, especially the Sunnehanna Amateur. We like to showcase what we have, and Johnstown enjoys a good impact as well.”
‘Ten decades’
The super regional is only one example how the game of golf has impacted the region, both as a recreational sport and as a financial boost.
The Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions is among the top amateur golf events in the country.
The Elite Amateur Golf Series tournament’s past players have gone on to win 96 major tournaments, 21 PGA player of the year awards, 41 NCAA championships, 42 United States Amateur titles and 37 U.S. Junior crowns.
A brief portion of the lengthy list of renowned Sunnehanna Amateur alumni includes Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson.
“This is the 85th year of the Sunnehanna Amateur, and tournament golf started in 1936 at Sunnehanna Country Club,” said Yerger of the upcoming event June 17-20. “That’s 10 decades of the Sunnehanna Amateur. How many things in this community are better now than when they started 100 years ago? Not many, if any.”
‘Financial boost’
The tournament also provides a financial boost.
The 2025 Sunnehanna Amateur brought 2,800 visitors to the country club in four days, including a total of 4,600 visits, according to statistics provided by Nicole Waligora, director of destination sales at Visit Johnstown.
The statistics, pulled from location analytics platform Placer.ai, noted that 26.9% of those who visited Sunnehanna Country Club during the 2025 tournament had stayed in a hotel property.
“When they left (their respective hotels), 25% went to a dining establishment while 12.3% went to a shopping/service business,” Waligora said, citing the Placer.ai statistics.
“With this data, it is pretty fair to assume that over 25% of those who attended the Amateur were out-of-town visitors,” Waligora said. “Additionally, you can see how tournaments and events such as the Sunnehanna Amateur boost visitation to local businesses, especially restaurants.”
Senior Amateur
The Sunnehanna Amateur is the region’s marquee golf event, but other tournaments make their own economic imprint.
The Sunnehanna Senior Amateur in August has evolved into a premier showcase that also brings senior golfers from across the country.
“Prior to 2024, the Sunnehanna Senior Amateur generally brought in about 70 players,” said John Bearrie, the event’s chairman. “However, since changing our registration format in 2024, we brought in 116 players that year and 119 players last year.”
Similar to the Sunnehanna Amateur and the NCAA events hosted at the course, the Senior Amateur helps fill local hotels, restaurants and shopping venues.
“Ours is now considered one of the ‘majors’ of Senior Amateur golf in the United States,” Bearrie said. “These players typically fill our hotels for three nights every August, and our local restaurants, the same.
“These guys are some of the most well-connected and influential senior golfers in the country. Their experience here cultivates and deepens the relationship of Sunnehanna Country Club and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, within those important circles.”
‘Reputational impact’
It’s a figurative win on and off the golf course.
“There is a financial impact that is underestimated, but also there is a reputational impact that is incredibly positive that is underestimated and undervalued,” Yerger said.
“These guys remember being here years after playing here. Many of the players leave with incredible memories of the community,” Yerger said, noting that in addition to the Sunnehanna and Pitt-Johnstown events, St. Francis University also has begun to host tournaments on the course.
“It’s been an untapped resource that hopefully the Sunnehanna Amateur can tap into to help our community. Golf has the ability to help our community.”
Yerger pointed to the success of the Sunnehanna Amateur Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2015.
“The Sunnehanna Amateur Foundation is separate from the tournament,” Yerger said. “The Foundation has probably given out $100,000 over the course of seven or eight years.
“The board understands that the tournament’s reputation lends itself to getting support from people to do things beyond just golf.”
A few examples of such financial assistance include the foundation’s role in funding travel expenses for the West Suburban Little League 12-Under girls softball team that won the Little League Softball World Series in Greenville, North Carolina, in August.
The foundation also has supported the Johnstown Concert Ballet, Stackhouse Park and the Greater Johnstown Youth League, Yerger said. The list goes on.
“Greater Johnstown Youth League didn’t have a lawn mower,” Yerger said. “(Through the foundation,) they received grants to take the kids to a Johnstown Mill Rats game. The foundation helped them with uniforms and equipment, but more importantly, to get lawnmowers because they didn’t have lawnmowers to cut their own fields.”
Area golf locations, such as Windber Country Club and the city-owned Berkley Hills Golf Course, attract players throughout much of the year.
Berkley Hills annually hosts the City Golf Championship, a few weeks after the Sunnehanna Amateur in June.
In the past decade, Windber Country Club has been the site of a U.S. Open local qualifying event (2019), an U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier (2017), as well as collegiate and high school tournaments or championship events.
“It’s awfully easy for people to be negative about what goes on in our community,” Yerger said, “but the overwhelming response by people who come here to visit is how friendly the people are, and they leave with nothing but good things to say about our community. That’s one perspective I think really is lost in all of this.
“Golf is making a big impact in a lot of different ways that really are underappreciated and unrecognized by the community. Golf is being utilized as a vessel to make a difference in our community. It’s doing just that, and you’re going to see it doing even more in the future.”