2025 Pennsylvania Mid-Am Preview

If past Pennsylvania Mid-Amateur championships are a good indicator chances are that the 2025 version is going to come down to the wire to decide the winner. The championship, administered by the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) and presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, will take place Monday and Tuesday, September 15-16, at Butler Country Club.

In the previous 21 tournaments since the event went to 36 holes of stroke play in 2004 to determine a state champion, just three times the champion has won by more than two strokes. Illuminating the data even more shows that 15 of those tournaments were won by only a stroke or decided by a playoff.

While last year’s champion, Troy Vannucci, will not defend his title, 11 other players who finished inside the top 10, including ties, will be in the field.  Vannucci’s four-stroke win was one of those few multi-stroke outliers in the history of the event but there was some awfully good play behind his tremendous effort at Moselem Springs. Brandon Knaub (Country Club of York) was the runner-up at -2, while Arnie Cutrell (Greensburg Country Club) and Ian Patterson (Penn National Golf Club) were the only two other players under par for the two days at -1.

All three of those competitors return along with Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Mark Miller and Darin Kowlaski (South Hills Country Club), who tied for fifth at even par for the 36 holes and Patrick Rutter (Schuylkill Country Club) and Grant Skyllas (LedgeRock Golf Club) were right behind at one-over par. Kowalski captured this season’s Western Pennsylvania Golf Association (WPGA) Mid-Am title last week in a playoff over Jon Pratkanis (Butler Country Club) after the duo had finished tied at -3. Kowalski also was the runner-up in the WPGA’s Amateur championship. Pratkanis is also in the field this week.

Skyllas, who won PAGA’s Mid-Am crown in 2014, is one of five former event champions in the 2025 tournament including Zach Dilcher (LedgeRock Golf Club) in 2023, Andy Butler (Huntingdon Valley Country Club) in 2022, Tug Maude (Merion Golf Club) in 2021 and Eric Williams (Glenmaura National Golf Club in 2011.

Two veteran players with many championships on their golf resumes will also contend for the title as Kevin Fajt (Hannastown Golf Club), who lost the overall division in last week’s PAGA Art Wall, Jr. Championship, in a playoff and Arnie Cutrell (Greensburg Country Club) who was the opening round leader in that event are entered.

Also in this week’s lineup are a couple of players who finished right behind Fajt and eventual winner Rick Stimmel (Connoquenessing Country Club), Mike Garcia (The Kahkwa Club) and Jeff Frazier, recent winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s (GAP) Senior Amateur, along with GAP’s 2024 Open champion Jon Rusk (LuLu Country Club).

Every stroke may not matter but the last one very well could!

PAGA Mid-Am notes: There have been no back-to-back winners in 17 years as Huntingdon Valley’s James Sullivan, Jr. last accomplished the feat in 2006-07. The only other players to win in consecutive years were James Bryan (Latrobe Country Club) in 2000-01 and Sean Knapp (St. Jude Golf Club) when the winner was decided in match play after stroke-play qualifying rounds. Knapp has the most PAGA Mid-Am titles with five. The Longue Vue Club and Huntsville Golf Club, each with three, have hosted the Mid-Am the most times. Vannucci’s four-stroke victory in 2024 is joined by only Andy Butler’s three-stroke margin in 2013 and Will Smith’s (Chambersburg Country Club) nine-stroke win in 2008 as the only champions winning by more than two or less strokes.