The high school golf season wrapped up in October and a handful of local players posted strong performances to end their years.
In the Boys Class 3A championships, WPIAL champion and Team Pennsylvania member Nico Ward captured gold with a dominant showing.
The West Allegheny junior shot 14-under over two rounds at Penn State University’s White Course. That included a 9-under score of 63, as Ward claimed his first state title.
The top of the Class 3A leaderboard was filled with players from the WPGA footprint.
Baldwin’s Michael Quallich — the 2025 WPGA Junior Boys Player of the Year — was second at 11-under. Fox Chapel’s Carson Kittsley, who this summer won the WPGA Amateur Championship at just 17 years old, was third at 9-under. State College’s Luke McGraw placed fourth and Central Catholic’s Bailey Donahue tied for sixth.
All five players were members of the inaugural Team Pennsylvania this past year.
In Girls 3A, two locals finished in the top ten. Pine-Richland’s Siena Smith and Moon’s Olivia DeGori tied for eighth. DeGori won the WPIAL Girls 3A title earlier in the month.
The Western side of the state was also well represented in the Boys 2A field, particularly those from Northwest Pennsylvania. Josiah Swan of North East High School finished third at 2-under. Santino Washburn of Cathedral Prep and Santino Toscano of Wilmington were fifth and sixth, respectively. And Isaac Allan of Gove City and Christopher Faber of North Catholic each tied for seventh.
In Girls 2A, Alyssa Zhang followed her third WPIAL title from two weeks earlier with a runaway win in State College. The Shady Side Academy junior and Team Pennsylvania member shot a 3-under score of 141, winning the state title by ten strokes. Chartiers-Houston’s JoJo Jaskulski was second, while West Middlesex’s Paige Sowers and Wilmington’s Lindsey Hoover tied for third. Quaker Valley’s Addison Davis was fifth, while Fairview’s Moira Erratic and St. Joseph’s Olivia Koshko each tied for sixth.
In the team championships, Peters Township brought home gold, winning Girls 3A with a 12-over score. South Fayette placed fourth.
State College’s boys team tied for first, but fell in a playoff in Boys 3A, while Fox Chapel and West Allegheny finished third and fourth.
Oakland Catholic’s girls team took Girls 2A with a 24-over mark, winning by nine strokes.
And in Boys 2A, Cathedral Prep finished third, North Catholic fourth and Shady Side Academy fifth.
Bulger and Benson pick up conference honors
In the college ranks, a pair of Western Pennsylvanians are making a big impact at Garder-Webb.
Eva Bulger, a junior from Sewickley and a Quaker Valley High School grad, and Ellie Benson, a freshman from Peters Township High School, recently took home conference accolades.
Bulger was named the Big South Golfer of the Week in mid-October after tying for 11th at the Terrier Intercollegiate.
Benson, meanwhile, a member of the inaugural Team Pennsylvania, finished tied for 14th in the event. She was named the Big South Freshman of the Week for her efforts.
The two continued their strong play at their final event of the fall, with Bulger placing 13th and Benson 14th at the Fripp Island Intercollegiate in late October.
Lemieux, Shipley compete in Bermuda
Austin Lemieux put on a sensational performance in September when he claimed the 41st WPGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Just over a month later, he took at shot at a PGA TOUR event for the first time.
Playing as an amateur, Lemieux qualified for and played in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in late October.
He did so, for the first two rounds, alongside fellow Pittsburgh native and Central Catholic grad Neal Shipley.
Shipley finished 8-under, good for 34th place overall. Lemieux, the 30-year-old son of legendary Pittsburgh Penguins player Mario Lemieux, missed the cut at 4-over.
As he was at Fox Chapel Golf Club during Austin’s WPGA Mid-Amateur Championship, Mario, as well as his wife, Nathalie, were in attendance in Bermuda, and tracked their son throughout the two days.
“I really appreciate them coming out,” said Austin during a post-round interview. “I just hoped to have done a little bit better. But I know they’re proud of me.”
The following week, Shipley finished 16th at the VedantaWorld Mexico Open, taking home a paycheck of over $100,000. He is scheduled to play in this week’s World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.
Stimmel, Vogt to play in prestigious national event
95th WPGA Senior Amateur champion Rick Stimmel will compete this week at a top national match play event in Carrollton, Texas.
Stimmel will represent the East team at the East West Matches at Maridoe Golf Club.
The competition is a three-day event which includes one round of Fourball, two rounds of Foursomes and a round of singles play.
The competition brings together many of the nation’s top amateur players.
Also appearing for the East team will be Cranberry native Matt Vogt, who reached the semifinal round of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship this summer.
Stimmel was recently named the 2026 WPGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year, and will be recognized alongside the other honorees at this year’s Champions Dinner on November 12.
Other Notes
• Neshanock High School senior Rocco Bautti announced his commmitment to Division I Fordham on October 25. Bautti has been a strong player in WPGA competitions during his junior career, including a third place finish in this year’s WPGA Junior Championship.
• John Carroll men’s golf continued its climb through the NCAA Division III ranks. The Blue Streaks sat at sixth in the NCAA polls at the end of October. On October 27, Greensburg native Wade Boyle, a senior at JCU, was named the NCAC Athlete of the Week.
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