112th Pennsylania Amateur Day 3 Recap

Scores

SHAVERTOWN, Pa. – After a grueling 54 holes of competition at Huntsville Golf Club in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s (PAGA) 112^th Amateur Championship, Rocco Salvitti (Oakmont Country Club) claimed medalist honors with a 17-under-par total of 199 for the week, five strokes clear of the field. The third time was the charm for Salvitti, who did not make the cut in the 2024 PAGA Amateur and finished tied for 14^th in the tournament back in 2023.

“The past two days I had a really good mindset of just going out there and playing the best golf I could,” said Salvitti. “I was obviously hitting it great and it allowed me to be free out there on a tough golf course. My motto today was just to stay in my lane and keep hitting quality shots. I knew if I hit enough of them it was going to be hard for someone to catch up. I played smart into the greens today, had a lot of good birdie looks, and made a lot of stress-free pars. It feels great to win. I haven’t been in the winner’s circle recently but doing it in your state amateur is exciting. I haven’t been able to process it yet.

Salvitti, who entered Wednesday with a two-shot lead and fired a two-under 70 in the final round, was one-under through the front nine thanks to birdies on holes No. 2 and 7, added another on 12, and eagled the par five 14^th hole for the second consecutive day.

“On 14 I had a really good number for a 4-iron,” recalled Salvitti. “I knew with the way the wind was and the way I was swinging it I needed to hit it just a little left of the pin. It ended up coming right at it, I hit it really good, and I had a four-footer for eagle. After that it made me way more comfortable and gave me the freedom to keep playing my game down the stretch and not have to worry about anything else.”

The runner-up for the week was Huntsville Golf Club’s Michael Lugiano, who took advantage of his familiarity with his home course to finish at 12-under with a three-day total of 204. He birdied the first two holes of the day (as well as hole No. 7) but three bogeys on the front evened things back up. He played mistake free on the back nine, adding birdies on 12, 16, and 17 to leapfrog Matthew Mattioli (Pittsburgh Field Club), the round one leader and second place heading into Wednesday, who solidified third place overall at 11-under par for the Championship.

Finishing in fourth place was Timothy Peters (USGA/Western Pennsylvania GC) at 10-under, whose four-under 68 on Wednesday was tied for the lowest of the day. He had an exceptional back nine that included birdies on 12, 13, 16, 18, and an eagle on 14.

Rounding out the top five was Chuck Tragesser (Willowbrook Country Club) with a nine-under 207. He eagled hole No.1 and added birdies on 10 and 14 with a bogey-free back nine.

The next event on the 2025 PAGA schedule is the 66^th Senior Amateur Championship on August 4-5 at Williamsport Country Club.

The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Huntsville Golf Club for the hospitality shown during this week’s Championship. Additional thanks go to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the event as the title sponsor of the PAGA.