2026 Championship Courses

By Pete Kowalski

The Pennsylvania Golf Association, recognizing that players want to win on great courses, is offering its competitors an enticing set of historic and renowned championship venues in 2026. 

Highlighting the impressive list are storied Oakmont Country Club for the Pennsylvania Amateur (July 27-29)  and equally heralded Laurel Valley Golf Club for the Pennsylvania State Open (August 10-12). 

“The golf courses in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania home are extraordinary, and in 2026, our championships will be hosted on an impressive list of venues,” said Jason Barkley, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Golf Association. “The players will love stepping up to the tee on all of these courses. We are eager to present great experiences for them no matter what competition they enter. 

“Conducting the Amateur at Oakmont and the Open at Laurel Valley is an honor for the Pennsylvania Golf Association. We are privileged that all our championship sites have graciously opened their doors to our players and their families, volunteers, staff, golf fans, and our staff for what promises to be a great season of competition.” 

Oakmont has been the site of the Pennsylvania Amateur 14 previous times with John Sawin, currently the Vice President of Golf at Pebble Beach, winning by three strokes over Arnie Cutrell and Kyle Sterbinsky the last time in 2014. The club has hosted 18 USGA championships, including 10 U.S. Opens. 

Laurel Valley is the Pennsylvania Open host club for the third time. Previously Gene Fieger won in 1988, and Robert Ross denied Arnold Palmer a victory in 1967. Two top-of-the list major events were played at Laurel Valley, the 1965 PGA Championship won by Dave Marr and the 1975 Ryder Cup won by the USA, captained by Latrobe native Arnold Palmer. 

The 2026 competition schedule opens with the George Dressler Memorial April 28-29 at York’s Outdoor C.C, (opened in 1892), followed by the Senior Open May 11-12 at the Club at Nevillewood (host of the State Open in 2016), and the Four-Ball Championships June 1-2 at Moselem Springs G.C. in Fleetwood, (site of Susie Maxwell Berning’s win at the 1968 U.S. Women’s Open). 

The Boys and Girl’s and Junior Team Championships will be played in the Capital Region June 29-30 at Hershey C.C., (site of the LPGA’s Lady Keystone Open from 1978-1994), and Lebanon C.C. (designed by Scotland’s Alexander Findlay), respectively. 

The R. Jay Sigel Match Play is set for July 6-8 at the Country Club of Scranton, which also hosted the Sigel in 2017. Scranton, a highly rated golf complex with three nines, has previously been the site of the State Open, the State men’s and women’s Amateurs, The Art Wall, the Four-Ball and the Senior Amateur. 

Following is the Parent-Child and Father-Son July 13-14 at Westmoreland C.C. in Export, which hosted the 1978 Pennsylvania Amateur. 

Gulph Mills G.C. (site of the 2025 Pennsylvania Open) will host the slate of women’s championships --  Amateur, Mid-Amateur, Senior and Super Senior July 20-22. 

As August unfolds, the Senior Amateur will be played at Berkshire C.C. August 3-4 (home of the Reading Open in the late 1940s with Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret and Ben Hogan among the participants). 

Later in the season, the Senior Four-Balls will be played at Toftrees Golf Club in State College, which hosted the Association’s Four-Ball championship in 1998 and 2004,  August 31-September 1. 

The Middle-Amateur is set for September 21-22 at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, the home club of 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Chip Lutz.

 And for the second year in a row, Chambersburg Country Club is the site of the Women’s Senior Amateur and Senior Amateur Match Play Championships on September 28-29. 

The Pennsylvania Golf Association is in discussions with the to-be-determined site of The Art Wall, Jr. Memorial on September 14-15. The announcement of that championship site will be posted on the Association website once a contract is complete.

DICK’S Sporting Goods is the title sponsor of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s championships.

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Pete Kowalski worked more than two decades as a department director in communications at the USGA and confides that his friendships in the game are more numerous that his greens-in-regulation.