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By Ken Love
For the Mirror
JOHNSTOWN -- It's hard to describe the amount of work that goes into hosting a tournament as prestigious as the Sunnehanna Amateur, but as usual, a group of dedicated, hard-working Sunnehanna members make it look easy as they seem to improve on their tournament with each passing year.
The Sunnehanna Amateur is one of the premier amateur golf tournaments in the world and is the only one run exclusively by a private golf club and its members. All others are run by either a collegiate organization or regional golf association.
The tournament, held annually at Johnstown's beautiful Sunnehanna Country Club, is scheduled for next week, June 16-19, and this year's event boasts one of the best fields in the tournament's history.
Many of the world's top-ranked amateurs are committed to play, with golfers from 14 countries, not including the United States, scheduled to compete
While Sunnehanna's tournament committee will be working diligently through next week to tie up all loose ends, they want to remind local golf fans that spectators are welcome, and attendance is free.
If you have the chance, it's an event that's definitely worth seeing.
The quality of golf you'll witness here is world-class. Every one of last year's major champions -- Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson - were Sunnehanna Amateur alums.
Jimmy Gillam
Local golf great Jimmy Gillam narrowly missed out in his bid to qualify for this year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California.
Playing in the final qualifying stage on Monday at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Gillam shot rounds of 74 and 69 to finish 13th in a field of 53 golfers that featured multiple PGA Tour pros (Gillam's 143 total tied him with PGA winners Brandt Snedeker and D.J. Trahan).
Only the top five finishers earned a spot into this year's U.S. Open, but Gillam's performance was still quite impressive.
Gillam has been playing on the mini-tours in the Carolina region in recent years and has collected several wins. While disappointed in not earning a spot in Monday's qualifier, he was still positive about the overall experience.
"I got off to a brutal start, but made a nice push in the second round," Gillam said. "Looking at the whole experience, it validates that I can compete with anyone."
Sam Lafferty
Many local sports fans know that Hollidaysburg native Sam Lafferty has been a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the past two seasons.
However, in addition to his amazing hockey skills, Lafferty is also a talented amateur golfer. An unfortunate, early exit from the playoffs this year by the Penguins created a bit of silver lining for Lafferty.
He's had a lot more time to play golf, and he's definitely taken advantage of the opportunity.
Last Thursday, Lafferty competed in the West Penn Amateur qualifier at Scotch Valley Country Club and played very well, shooting a 2-over par score of 74.
Lafferty's third-place finish earned him a spot into the 2021 WPGA Amateur Championship, which will be held this weekend at the Indiana Country Club.
CC champion
The Central Counties team and individual championship was held last weekend at Park Hills Country Club. Congratulations to the home team from Park Hills that took home the team trophy.
The individual title went to Iron Masters' Spencer Hinish, who scored rounds of 70 and 71 to finish four shots ahead of Park Hills' Todd Homan. Quintin Dziabo finished in third place with a two-day total of 146.
Love covers golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at gltr777@atlanticbb.net.