FINDLEY LAKE — Without a sponsor lined up, the Web.com Tour golf tournament that has taken place annually in July at Peek’n Peak Resort will forgo the 2020 season.

Whether the event — called LECOM Health Challenge Tournament the past four years — returns to Findley Lake will depend on a sponsor coming forward and with it a multi-year commitment.

The tournament is overseen by the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency. Mark Geise, county IDA CEO and tournament director, said the PGA has increased the cost to host the event, and LECOM (Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine based in Erie, Pa.) opted not to renew its four-year sponsorship contract after 2019.

“We did make a number of phone calls to potential sponsors,” Geise said. “We really did not get any traction.”

Geise said one company in the county did express some interest in becoming a sponsor, though discussions were “very preliminary.”

Asked if he thought professional golf would return in 2021, Geise said he is “cautiously optimistic” a sponsor can be found.

The PGA Tour played at Peek’n Peak from 2002 to 2007 before returning in 2016.

If a return does happen in the future, Geise said he would like to see the IDA take more of an advisory role, noting the amount of time and resources organizing the tournament has had the last few years.

“We would like to see someone come in and take the lead role,” Geise said. “This is not really one of (the IDA’s) missions. … But we are still actively looking for a sponsor.”

Without state funding that the tournament received in past years, Geise said officials had to make adjustments without compromising the game. He said the efforts worked, with the event breaking even in terms of costs to put on the tournament in addition to an “uptick in attendance” by offering free admission in 2019.

“You always run into challenges trying to pull people out from urbanized areas,” Geise said. “That was always our goal, to bring people to Chautauqua County and to the tournament. I think it’s went well.”