The Phil Saylor Cup is named in honor of tournament founder and long time Sunnehanna Country Club member, Phil Saylor.
In 1998, Phil Saylor shot 68 in the final round to win the Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Championship and later that same year went on to win the West Penn Senior Amateur as well; a tournament he would win again in 2001; and then again, a remarkable third time in 2004. As his impressive amateur career began to wind down, Phil had a vision for Sunnehanna CC to host the best Senior Amateurs from all over the United States and Canada. He began this journey with the inaugural “Sunnehanna Senior Invitational” in 2005. That year, Bob Hullender, one of the most decorated amateurs in the state of Texas took home the title. During the past quarter century, this tournament has produced three United States Senior Amateur Champions (Mike Rice, Chip Lutz, and Sean Knapp) not to mention dozens of State Senior Champions as well.
Now in his 80s, Phil continues to walk the fairways here and regularly shoots his age. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting Phil Saylor, he is sure to have a few legendary stories to tell you about Sunnehanna Country Club. As our founder, we honor him with this trophy and hope that one day (outside of our national championship) it will become the most sought after in all of senior amateur golf.
