ERIE — With 78 of the region’s top amateur players traipsing its grounds for over 12 hours, The Kahkwa Club itself emerged as perhaps the biggest adversary for WPGA Amateur Championship hopefuls on Monday.
The Erie-area course showed its teeth in the opening round of the 126th West Penn Am, as no players finished their round under par through the championship’s first 36 holes.
Two golfers — both collegiate standouts — lead the three-round competition at 1-over par, as West Virginia University’s Nick Turowski and Longwood University’s Hunter Swidzinski battled what proved to be one of the toughest opening day layouts in recent WPGA Amateur history.
“The pins and greens were definitely tough,” said Swidzinski, who just finished a strong sophomore season with the Lancers. “The pins were in a lot of corners, so it made it hard to get to with your wedges and irons. It left you a lot of 30-foot putts to have, and you've got to go over and around a lot of slopes.
“You've got to be careful on a lot of downhill putts. The greens were quick, and you could really get them by the hole if you weren't paying attention.”
Swidzinski has surged in recent weeks, receiving all-conference honors, winning the Tri-State Section PGA Amateur Championship and setting the course record at his home club of Olde Stonewall with a round of 62 last week.
“The last two weeks have been pretty good,” he said. “I was playing really well around two weeks ago, and now I’m getting some good things coming back again. It’s good timing to have for this great tournament, so I’m happy to put out a good showing today and give myself a chance tomorrow.”
The difficulty of the course pushed the cut line back to 15-over, a higher mark than the 2019 WPGA Amateur Championship held at Oakmont Country Club, which had a cut line of 13-over. That, coupled with temperatures which crept into the 80’s and a lack of cloud coverage, led to a true grind of an afternoon.
“The heat is definitely a thing,” Swidzinski said. “I know it wasn't incredibly hot, but in the summer, you get the heat, and it makes those 36-hole days a lot longer. You start feeling it at the end in your legs and your body.
“With college golf, you get to experience 36 holes, so I'm a bit used to it. It's still always a challenge walking these western Pennsylvania golf courses with all the hills they have.”
Two players sit at 3-over heading into Tuesday’s final round. Robert Morris University assistant coach Connor Bennink and Fox Chapel High School standout Carson Kittsley are two strokes off of the lead.
A year after nearly becoming the youngest winner of the WPGA Amateur Championship in history, Kittsley held the lead for much of Monday’s second round after starting with three birdies in his first six holes.
Reigning WPGA Amateur champion David Fuhrer II, reigning WPGA Player of the Year Darin Kowalski, as well as Colton Lusk, all are 5-over.
The final round has historically provided an even tougher challenge for players, who will have a short night to mentally and physically prepare for, what they hope, is a major championship winning round of golf Tuesday.
“I’m just going to try to relax a little bit and not think too much about it,” he said. “I know I'm not really sleeping on an individual lead or anything, so I'm not going to be too nervous tonight or anything. But I’ll just try to stay focused on the goal and just take it one hole at a time.”
The third and final round of the 126th WPGA Amateur Championship begins Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
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