Two local players made a big impact at the U.S. Senior Am in early September.
Arnold Cutrell and Rick Stimmel — two longtime standout players — reached the match play stage of the 71st U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at Baltimore Country Club.
In stroke play, Cutrell shot a 6-over mark, tying for 21st overall. Stimmel, meanwhile, was 5-over and tied for 15th.
Both players advanced to match play, winning their Round of 64 matches. Stimmel took down Ron Mangold of Pocahontas, Arkansas, 4 & 3, while Cutrell dropped Jamie Slonis of Sewell, New Jersey, 2 & 1.
In the Round of 32, Stimmel fell to Todd White of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Cutrell, however, advanced with a 2 Up win over Jack Larkin Sr.
Cutrell bowed out in the afternoon’s Round of 16, falling to Mike Sposa of Spartanburg, South Carolina, 4 & 3. Sposa went on to defeat White in the final round to claim the national championship.
The two weren’t the only accomplished amateurs to appear at a USGA championship earlier this month.
Women’s amateur golf legend Carol Semple Thompson served as the honorary starter at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Montclair Country Club.
In 1973, Semple Thompson — who claimed two U.S. Mid-Amateurs in her career — won the U.S. Amateur title at Montclair and returned 53 years later to announce players on the first tee.
Shipley dazzles at Biltmore
2026 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for Pittsburgh native Neal Shipley. But, this past weekend, Shipley turned in one of his best performances as a professional.
The 25-year-old shot 23-under at the Biltmore Championship in Asheville, North Carolina, tying for third.
Shipley vaulted into the lead during the second round, firing a 9-under score of 62 to hold the tournament lead heading into the weekend.
He ended up slipping Sunday, as Jacob Bridgeman’s final round mark of 10-under gave him the win, with Shipley finishing three strokes off the top spot.
However, the third place mark was his most lucrative as a professional, netting him $295,000 and moving his 2026 earnings to over $500,000.
Morgan makes mark in college debut, while other locals shine
Mya Morgan’s junior golf career ended in impressive fashion, as she claimed the 19th WPGA Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this summer.
Her collegiate career, just a few weeks later, got off to an equally impressive start.
Morgan, an Elizabeth Forward High School grad now playing at Central Michigan, finished sixth in her first collegiate event, carding a 1-over score at the A-Ga-Ming Invitational.
A week later, and Morgan did even better, shooting 10-over at the Rocket Classic and finishing tied for the lead in the competition with Ohio State’s Amalie Tauer.
Tauer won the event in a playoff but, for the second consecutive event, Central Michigan claimed the team victory with Morgan leading the way.
Elsewhere, another Division I freshman made a big impact on the golf course.
Penn State’s Maddie Koshko won the Happy Valley Invitational in her collegiate debut earlier this month.
Playing on Penn State’s White Course, the State College native shot consecutive scores of 68 to win the two-round event at 8-under. In the same event, Delaware’s Marissa Malosh, who claimed the 2024 WPGA Women’s Amateur title, finished tied for sixth.
Both Morgan and Koshko were members of the inaugural Team Pennsylvania this past year.
Local men’s golfers impressing for schools
A number of men’s golfers have gotten off to strong starts in the 2026 season.
After transferring from Longwood this summer, UNC Wilmington’s Hunter Swidzinski has settled right into his new home.
Swidzinski finished tied for seventh at the Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate earlier this month.
He followed up with a 15th place finish at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational on September 15, shooting a 5-over score in challenging weather conditions.
The Canadian Collegiate Invitational is a premier early season event. Notre Dame’s Rocco Salvitti — a Central Catholic grad — finished tied for fourth overall at 3-under. Notre Dame ended runner-up in the event, its second runner-up finish this year.
At the same event, State College native Tim Peters tied with Swidzinski at 15th, giving Western Pennsylvania three players in the top 15 in the competition.
Penn State freshman Ravi Desai, a member of the WPGA’s Williamson Cup team this summer, also competed in the event, finishing tied for 49th, while 2026 West Penn Open winner Colton Lusk tied for 60th in his Penn State debut.
Just across the border, West Virginia’s Nick Turowski has logged some solid performances early in the season, including a 7-under score at the Island Resort Collegiate, good for seventh overall. He also finished tied for 13th at Minnesota’s Gopher Invitational.
Other news and notes
• Holidaysburg native Crosby Denis committed to Duquesne women’s golf earlier this month. Denis, a senior, finished tied for fifth in the WPGA Women’s Amateur Championship this past July. She will join a Duquesne roster that currently features four Western Pennsylvanians.
• John Carroll men’s golf has been off to a blazing start early in the season. In their first three events of the year, the Blue Streaks have set program record in each event, including a 15-under team mark at a competition at the Country Club of Meadville.Western Pennsylvania native Daniel Donahue finished second in that event. With fellow locals in Wade Boyle and Austin Malley as primary contributors, JCU has won three team competitions already in 2026.
• At the same competition in Meadville, Penn State Altoona freshman Max Mottura resisted a top five finish with a two-round score of 141. Mottura finished runner-up at the WPGA Junior Championship this summer.
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