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Sycamore Hills Golf Club has long been one of the top-rated golf courses in the nation.
Soon, it could be one of the most well-known.
Sycamore Hills will play host to next year’s Junior PGA Championship in August, with the formal announcement coming today. It comes on the heels of the course playing host this month to another national championship, the United States Golf Association’s Women’s State Team Championship.
“We’ve been on a pretty good run lately, getting good national awareness about Sycamore,” said Don Hunter, Sycamore Hills general manager.
Sycamore Hills remains in the running for a PGA Champions Tour event, one that could begin as soon as next year, and it has also been approached by the USGA and PGA of America about hosting other larger championships in the coming years.
“From the day that Sycamore Hills opened, it’s received that (high) level of respect and attention from people around the golf circles,” said Franklin-based Ted Bishop, Secretary of the PGA of America, which runs the Junior PGA Championship. “It’s nice for Sycamore Hills to now be able to host tournaments of a national stature. The Fort Wayne market could possibly be a good market for something like the Senior PGA Championship. That’s one of the things that sometimes the PGA will do, see how everything goes with a tournament (like the Junior) and then progress from there.”
The Junior PGA Championship, which has taken place since 1976, features 156 boys and girls, 18 and younger. It has been held at only eight others courses, including prestigious Pinehurst (N.C.) and PGA National (Florida).
Past champions include Billy Mayfair, David Toms, Trevor Immelman, Heather Farr, Vicki Goetze and In-Bee Park. The event includes 72 holes of stroke play. Bishop said boys and girls will alternate groups, making it unique for players and spectators.
“There are a lot of great junior tournaments out there, in all the states,” said Bishop, whose daughter Ambry competed in the Junior PGA Championship. “But I don’t think there’s an event that means more to the players than this one. It’s conducted and carried about just like a pro event. When people see the magnitude that the PGA is involved, we put as much effort into this as the PGA Championship. We want it to be like a major championships.”
Hunter expects about 5,000 spectators to attend the event and that it will be televised on ESPN2 and Golf Channel. More than 200 volunteers will be needed for the tournament, which will take over Jack Nicklaus-designed Sycamore Hills for six days.
Hunter said his membership won’t complain about giving up its course for so long. Sycamore Hills, which opened for play in 1989, is on Golf Digest’s list of the Top 100 courses in America.
“I think our members, most of them will volunteer and help support by funding part of the tournament,” Hunter said. “We’re a golf club, and they’re focused on creating a world-class golf experience, and this is part of it. They understand that. At most clubs, it would be an issue, but here it’s really not.”
The PGA of America and Sycamore Hills have been discussing the Junior PGA Championship for about two months and have agreed on a one-year contract, Hunter said, though a second year is possible.
“We’ll get a fee for use of facilities, but it’s more of a token than anything else,” Hunter said. “The club will actually wind up losing a little bit of money, no matter how we slice it. The community will be the big winner, and so will the players.”
Sycamore Hills’ head professional, Tim Frazier, echoed those sentiments.
“The magnitude of this event is every bit as big as the Women’s State Team Championship, but if you look at the economic stimulus it could bring to the area, it’s even bigger because of all the players, the spectators and because the field will be very, very strong,” Frazier said.
“I think if you look at the history of courses that have produced championships, it took them awhile to (get them there). Sycamore Hills could have hosted these types of events from Day 1 because of the maturity of the trees. It’s all happening in a reasonable time frame.”
