Adam Scuilli captures 36th Mid-Amateur Championship
By Mike Dudurich • September 8, 2021
Mike is a freelance writer and host of The Golf Show on 93.7 The Fan Saturday mornings from 7-8 AM. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeDudurich.
There are varying opinions on the home-field advantage for golfers.
Playing a big tournament on your home course is either an advantage to be celebrated or a yoke around a golfer’s neck that’s hard to deal with.
Put Adam Scuilli advantage column with an emphatic “oh yeah.”
Scuilli, 40, took advantage of his local knowledge of Chartiers Country Club and posted rounds of 67-68 for a 135 total and a three-shot victory over Greensburg’s Kevin Fajt in the 36th WPGA Mid-Amateur Championship.
“A lot, huge actually,” Scuilli said. “Especially here. There are so many trap doors around here. It’s like a haunted house.”
The victory was Scuilli’s first big win and means a lot to him because it’s a WPGA event. He’s in sales for building projects and the win will be one he’ll remember for a long time.
“The closest I’d come before was losing in a playoff in a U.S. Mid-Am qualifier a few years ago,” Scuilli said.
How good was the CCC member on this day?
How about 11 birdies in 36 holes? Many of those came off the face of Scuilli’s putter, which was red-hot on the bright warm afternoon.
“I hit a few close but it was all of those 4-5 footers for par to keep the momentum going,” he laughed. “Bottom line is I putted great today. I also made a few 10-15 footers, too. I started bogey, bogey this morning but I chipped in a couple times and all in all it was a very good day.”
Scuilli noted he didn’t play college golf and just a bit in high school.
“I learned to enjoy practicing. I put hours into practicing,” he said. “And at age 20, I started realizing the benefits and it’s really been good for me and my game. I’ve been fortunate and this is a great validation of what I’ve been trying to accomplish.”
Fajt made seven birdies over the course of the day. He made a run at Scuilli a couple times but he just couldn’t run him down. But that didn’t diminish his opinion of his game.
“I played pretty well today and have been playing pretty well recently,” Fajt said.
Indeed he has, especially in light of how he’ll be leading a group of a half-dozen qualifiers into the U.S. Mid-Am Sept. 25-30. Fajt, Kevin Koerbel, Jimmy Ellis, Brett Young and Andrew Hodge all with be competing at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Siasconset, Mass. and Miacomet Golf Course at Nantucket.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and 33,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund.