Sunnehanna Am grants exemptions to two West Penn players through Team PA
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • November 17, 2025
JOHNSTOWN – For decades, the Sunnehanna Amateur Championship has served as a springboard for many of golf’s greatest players.
With a lengthy list of decorated past participants and champions, the annual competition continually finds ways to bolster the game of golf in the region, state and well beyond.
With that background and philosophy in mind, it became an obvious decision for the Sunnehanna Amateur Committee and Co-Chair John Yerger to allow two new exemptions — a rarity for the prestigious championship that is part of the nation’s Elite Amateur Series.
Coinciding with last week’s announcement of the first Team Pennsylvania — part of the United States National Development Program for golf — the Sunnehanna Amateur Championship elected to grant two automatic exemptions into the championship to the top two points leaders in the Team Pennsylvania boys rankings.
“At the end of the day, we want to be supportive of golf in our state,” said Yerger, a former WPGA Junior champion in 1977. “While we care about the Sunnehanna Am, we also care about golf in the state of Pennsylvania. We want to support the initiatives being undertaken with the USGA to help develop the best players in the state. Nothing would make us feel better than to see another champion come from the state of Pennsylvania.'
Multiple Western Pennsylvanians have won the Sunnehanna Amateur throughout its storied history, including Bill Hyndman, Jay Sigel, Greg Lesher and Nathan Smith.
“Recently, the success of players like Palmer Jackson, who finished third, and Neal Shipley, who finished runner-up, are our prime examples of supporting players in our state,” added Yerger. “We want to think that this is an important initiative to support.”
Team Pennsylvania is a group of 12 junior boys and 12 junior girls players from throughout the state and is supported statewide by the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association, the Golf Association of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Golf Association, the PGA Section-Philadelphia, the PGA Section Tri-State.
Two accomplished Western Pennsylvanian junior players finished at the top of the Team Pennsylvania boys points list, as Oakmont Country Club’s Carson Kittsley and South Hills Country Club’s Michael Quallich each will be exempt into the 85th Sunnehanna Amateur Championship this June.
“We want to provide opportunities for players to improve their game and play against the best players, not just in the United States, but from across the world,” said Yerger.
Kittsley, a Penn State recruit, nearly claimed the 125th WPGA Amateur Championship this past summer at Sunnehanna Country Club, finishing a stroke behind champion and fellow Oakmont member David Fuhrer II.
By way of that win, Fuhrer II received an exemption into the Sunnehanna Amateur, with another Oakmont Country Club member, Rocco Salvitti, also receiving an exemption into the event thanks to his win in the Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur Championship this summer.
Quallich, who claimed the WPGA Junior Championship this past June, will soon follow Salvitti’s footsteps, announcing his commitment to Notre Dame, where Salvitti is in his junior year.
“To see that these two young players come from Western Pennsylvania, we think is great for golf in Western Pennsylvania and for the West Penn Golf Association,” said Yerger.
The Sunnehanna Amateur, which is set to celebrate its 85th anniversary in June, has become a staple of the amateur golf community, with a lengthy list of accomplished players having battled the course in Johnstown.
Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson and Lucas Glover have all won the Sunnehanna Amateur, while names like Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Scottie Scheffler, Fred Couples, Jordan Spieth, Ben Crenshaw and many other greats have played in the championship.
In fact, 11 of the last 12 major champions on the PGA TOUR are alum of the Sunnehanna Amateur Championship, which has had a significant impact on the Johnstown region.
“I think for a community like Johnstown, which has its difficulties, to have a tournament that is not just nationally but internationally recognized, there's a sense of community pride,” said Yerger, who added that around 95 percent of the competition’s 200 volunteers who are not members of Sunnehanna Country Club.
“I think there's a growing understanding of the significance of the tournament, not just within golf, but also its importance to the community of Johnstown. While it is a club event, run at Sunnehanna Country Club, the tournament would not be what it is without the support of the community.”
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and nearly 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.