James bring home golf gold from State Games
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Hollidaysburg's Bryan James recently took home a gold medal in the open division of the 2026 State Games of America golf competition held at State College this year.
The 40-year-old James is a teacher in the Hollidaysburg School District and will be entering his 16th season as Hollidaysburg's golf coach. A long-time competitive golfer in the area, James not only captured first prize in his age bracket, his score of 73 was the lowest score posted during the entirety of the golf competition.
The State Games of America is an Olympic-style sports festival featuring athletes from across the nation and is held every two years. The games began more than two decades ago with the inaugural event held in San Diego to "promote physical fitness, sports activity and sportsmanship as a health improvement and disease prevention strategy."
While the State Games of America is a national organization, many states across the country conduct similar, associated events on an annual basis. Local sports fans may be familiar with our state's version, the Keystone Games, which are held each year in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Senior Games.
With State College earning the rights to host this year's national event, all three competitions (State Games of America, Keystone Games and PA Senior Games) were conducted simultaneously at venues across Centre County from July 24- Aug. 2.
Opening ceremonies were held at the Bryce Jordan Center with a parade of athletes followed by the official lighting of the ceremonial cauldron. Over the week that followed, thousands of athletes competed in events that included boxing, bowling, gymnastics, archery, judo, karate, swimming, pickleball, figure skating and golf, to name just a few.
The golf competition was held at the Penn State Blue Course, just south of campus, on July 30th and featured numerous age-bracket competitions including youth division (8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17), open division (18-29, 30-39, 40-49) and masters division (50-59, 60-69 and 70-79).
James' score of 73 easily captured top prize in the 40-49 bracket.
"I hit the ball well throughout the entire day," James said. "The Blue Course can be tough, but I hung in there and was able to post a pretty good score."
When the competition eventually came to a close late in the day, a medal ceremony was conducted where James was presented with a gold medal for his performance.
"I'm really happy that I entered the competition," he said. "It was a very well-run event and I enjoyed every bit of it. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back and competing in it again."