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“We spent 2½ years working to bring the tournament to Montgomery County. To have it come to Pottstown and to get it to execution has just been phenomenal,” said Mark Kaminetsky, director of sales, Valley Forge Sports. “We are excited as a region to embrace an event like this.”

Kaminetsky said it was “awesome” to see the residents of the Raven’s Claw community sitting out on their decks in May, watching the tournament.

“We hope to see expansion and growth of this event. The more people we can get to come out, the better,” he added.

“With the LPGA Tour, Pottstown Rumble, BMX Bike Race, Kutztown Invitational and the Big 4 Lacrosse Tournament — these world class events make Pottstown the sports capitol of Montgomery County,” Karl added.

“Pottstown is a gem. This event was so great for the region in all ways — for competitive sports, Pottstown, tourism and the county,” Bowman added.

The LPGA Symetra Tour is a gateway for players to advance to the LPGA — with the tour’s top 10 finishes awarded LPGA membership, according to Ed Harris, chief marketing officer for the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board.

“More than 160 countries watch every week,” said Harris. “We are excited to market and promote an event of this caliber.”

He shared a statistic to illustrate the interest the event generated, saying that during the summer of 2017, the tourism agency’s golf outlet mongtcogolf.com had about 3,000 visitors.

“This summer it was more than 17,000 visitors. That is a tribute to the success of this tournament,” he said.

Harris added that the agency will do all it can to market the Symetra Tour’s 2019 Montgomery County stop. Email business story ideas to business editor/ writer drovins@21stcenturymedia.com.