Notebook Summerhays, Smith represent best of two generations in amateur golf

Jun. 16—The first group to tee off in the Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions matched two former winners of the event, with each representing a different generation in golf.

Preston Summerhays, who became the youngest winner in Sunnehanna Amateur history by placing first in 2020 at 18 years, 2 days old, joined a familiar face on the Westmont course, Brookville's Nathan Smith, the 2011 champion.

That 2020 tournament was played in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so when Summerhays finished Wednesday's opening round with an even-par 70 on the Sunnehanna Country Club course, he still was about a month away from his 20th birthday.

Smith is 43 years old and a four-time winner in both the U.S. Mid-Amateur and Western Pennsylvania Amateur. Smith shot a 2-under 68 on Wednesday.

"To play with Preston Summerhays, a total stud, to shoot a round like that, it means a lot when you're in your mid-40s and shoot a round like that," Smith said.

"I told Preston I'm like the show pony that gets the horses at the Kentucky Derby into the gate. It was fun watching him play. A great future. He's a better young man, which says a lot."

Summerhays was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year playing at Arizona State University.

He appreciated Smith's performance in the first round.

"Our games are completely different. I have to respect his accuracy off the tee," Summerhays said. "He didn't miss one fairway today. Not one. For his age, he's able to compete with the younger players. He was one stroke off the lead (early in the round). That's impressive."

Summerhays won the 2020 tournament with a record- tying 14-under 266, equaling the mark set by Sunnehanna Amateur legend Allen Doyle in 1992.

The 19-year-old is part of a well-known golf family. His father Boyd Summerhays played on the PGA Tour and now is a respected golf instructor. He also played in the 1997 Sunnehanna Amateur.

Preston's grandfather Bruce Summerhays Sr. was a three-time PGA Tour winner. His uncles Bruce Jr., Daniel and Joe, as well as his aunt Carrie Roberts, all built on the family's golf tradition.

Preston Summerhays hopes to catch some momentum and add to the long list of family accomplishments while playing the course at Sunnehanna over the next three days.

"Today wasn't a great day. I shot even, but I'm playing a lot better than that," Preston Summerhays said. "The flow of my round wasn't really good. I got off to a good start, 2-under through two. A couple bogeys on 8 and 9.

"I played really good and to shoot the score I did was a little disappointing."

This will be his third Sunnehanna Amateur, so Summerhays is a veteran despite his young age.

"I know I'm playing good. It is a four-day event," he said. "I have three more days. Hopefully the leaderboard doesn't shoot up too quick."

Smith knows Sunnehanna as well as any of the current players in the field. That made his opening round 2-under even more special to him.

"On the front, I birdied 3, 6 and 9 and I played well," said Smith, the captain of the 2025 U.S. Walker Cup team. "I hit it well. I just missed one green on 17. I had a lot of looks and I was able to convert. I didn't birdie 11. If you catch 11, sometimes the round can get kind of special. I missed that, but just a great round for me."

Adding up the numbers: The numbers 69 and 81 each are associated with this year's Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions.

This is the 69th edition of the current version of the Sunnehanna Amateur, 72 holes of medal play among some of the top amateur golfers in the world.

But this is the 81st year of the event, including the former Sunnehanna Invitational, which featured match play from 1936 to 1951 and produced champions such as Arnold Palmer in 1948 and Charles Kunkle in 1950. The Invitational wasn't held from 1942-45 because of World War II.

The current version of the Sunnehanna Amateur began in 1954.

Series business: There already was plenty to play for during the Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions. The stakes are even higher as Sunnehanna kicks off the seven-event Elite Amateur Golf Series (EAGS).

The six other tournaments in the Elite Amateur Golf Series include the Northeast Amateur (June 22-25; Wannamoisett Country Club; Rumford, Rhode Island); North and South Amateur (June 26-July 2; Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Pinehurst, North Carolina); Trans-Mississippi Amateur (July 6-9; Denver Country Club, Denver, Colorado); Southern Amateur (July 13-16; Sea Island Golf Club, St. Simons Island, Georgia); Pacific Coast Amateur (July 19-22; Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Portland, Oregon); and Western Amateur (Aug. 1-6; Exmoor Country Club, Highland Park, Illinois).

Players may accumulate WAGR rankings to potentially earn exemptions to PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and USGA Championship events through the EAGS.

Modern and traditional scoreboards are situated throughout the Sunnehanna Country Club course to allow fans to track the leaders.

The traditional boards with name plates and scores stuck on the white background are positioned at holes throughout the course.

This year for the first time, a LED electronic scoreboard is situated behind the 16th green and 17th tee box.

Tournament co-chairman John Yerger described the technology as "an interesting addition that you typically see at professional events."

Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.