Lehigh University and Saucon Valley Country Club (SVCC) are building on their long-standing relationship through a 25-year agreement and investment in a state-of-the-art Golf Performance Center that will include dedicated training space for Lehigh Golf.
Seeking to raise $3 million for the Golf Performance Center, Lehigh Athletics has secured one-third of that total from alumni who believe in the future of Lehigh Golf. This announcement follows the launch of a focused fundraising effort to propel Lehigh Athletics into an unstoppable force.
SVCC is looking ahead to an exciting new chapter in the member golf experience with plans for the Golf Performance Center and new nine-hole Short Course. Plans for the facility include hitting bays, a putting area, and gathering spaces with a designated hitting bay and team room for use by Lehigh Men’s and Women’s Golf. Together with the new Short Course, the facility will create a comprehensive environment for golf practice and player development.
The Mulvihill facility on Goodman Campus will remain an essential part of the Lehigh golf program, while the planned Golf Performance Center will give Lehigh’s teams an exciting new place to practice and prepare at one of the premier clubs in the United States.
“We truly believe that our facilities are the best in the region and among the best in the country,” says John Manos, director of golf and head women’s golf coach. “We get to practice and compete at a club that has hosted some of the nation's biggest championships, have an unbelievable on-campus practice facility, and soon will have a state-of-the-art center that allows us to prepare in an entirely different way. These facilities will really speak to recruits and their families. With the combination of Lehigh's academics and reputation along with our facilities and national schedule, I don't know what more a player could want.”
“I am grateful that my service on Saucon Valley’s Board of Directors has given me the opportunity to help bring these two extraordinary institutions together since both hold a special place in my life,” says Mark McGowan ’89. “This collaboration will strengthen Lehigh's golf programs, expand opportunities for fundraising and recruitment through access to Saucon Valley’s facilities, and enhance the practice range experience for both Saucon Valley members and Lehigh Golf teams. It is a mutually beneficial investment, and I believe it reflects the type of visionary commitment that would have made Eugene Grace especially proud.”
Eugene Grace 1899, was a Lehigh baseball player, a member of the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall Of Fame, Lehigh valedictorian, president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and a co-founder of Saucon Valley Country Club.
“As Grace understood, partnerships like this are foundational to our success as a program,” says Jeremy Gibson, Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics. “Our student-athletes come to Bethlehem and showcase their talents on the fields, arenas, and links. They become part of the fabric of our community and form connections with alumni, parents, fans, and partners who care about their development as athletes, students, and professionals. Our partners at SVCC continue to show phenomenal support for the students in our golf program.”
“Our alumni always stand shoulder to shoulder with us when opportunities like this present themselves,” says Carol Packard, vice president, Development and Alumni Relations. “Our history at SVCC, our engaged alumni, and the strength of our golf program are testaments to the ways Lehigh is defined by its competitive excellence and its place in this broader community. We know this project will help everyone involved flourish.”
To learn more about the project and support its development, contact Mike Garzillo ’16 MBA’25, senior associate athletic director for development and alumni relations, at mag316@lehigh.edu.
