Jul 15, 2026 4 min read

Colton Lusk’s focus on staying patient has started to pay off. In a major way.

A 19-year-old Peters Township grad, Lusk hit his stride July 15 at Willowbrook Country Club, winning the 123rd WPGA Open Championship with a 10-under score of 206 for the three-round major championship.

“It feels great,” said Lusk, who is a rising sophomore at Penn State University. “I knew it was going to be a battle today with all of the guys at the top. I only had a two-shot lead, but I knew it was going to be a tough one because the wind was picking up.”

Lusk, whose round of 66 on July 14 put him in the top spot entering the final round, had his positioning on the leaderboard meander through the top five during the final round.

His bogey on the second hole and uncharacteristic double bogey on the ninth left him chasing as he entered the back half of his round. But Lusk’s patient mentality entering the round manifested itself as he made the turn.

“I knew I had to stay patient,” he said. “I knew there was going to be good shots and bad shots. I knew that later in the round there were some holes that I could get after and hopefully birdie. I just had to reset and keep going. I was only a shot back. I knew I was close.”

And that’s when Lusk struck. He racked up four straight bogeys starting with the 13th hole, and his 25-foot putt on the 15th hole brought out an emotional fist pump as the championship came into picture.

“On 13, I made a 15-footer for birdie and that got me back in it,” he said. “On 14, I put it to three feet and tapped in. But the putt on 15 sent me over the edge. It relieved a lot of the stress for the next hole. And then I almost holed my next approach shot.”

Lusk’s lead grew at that point to four strokes over fellow amateur Amani D’Ambrosio and Beau Titsworth, who finished with Low Professional honors and shared runner-up honors with D’Ambrosio. A two-time WPGA Open Champion, Titsworth now resides in Florida.

Titsworth’s round of 67 was the second-best final round behind Grove City native Ryan Ferry, who shot 66 and finished fifth. Wade Boyle of Greensburg placed fourth at 6-under.

Professional Mike Van Sickle and amateur Will Hilton were 5-under, tying for fifth alongside Ferry.

“The first two days were more scoreable,” said Lusk of the course conditions, which took on oppressive heat in the afternoon of the final. “It really firmed up later in the day and was tough to make putts. The greens sped up a little bit and it was just tougher. The wind picked up, as well.”

This is the third straight year that a Peters Township graduate has claimed the West Penn Open, as Lusk joins 2025 champion Connor Schmidt and 2004 winner Alec Stopperich in triumphing in the region’s second-oldest golf championship.

“It’s awesome,” said Lusk, who became the second Chartiers Country Club member to win a WPGA major this summer, following West Penn Junior champion Camden Reyes, a current student at Peters Township. “There are a lot of big names who have come through Peters. It shows that it’s a good program and that we have good players.”

Beyond the victory — Lusk’s first in any WPGA competition — he hopes for an added reward. After leaving Siena College during his freshman year and enrolling at Penn State, he hopes to join the Nittany Lions’ golf team this coming fall.

After finishing runner-up at the 126th WPGA Amateur Championship, 11th in the WPGA Spring Stroke Play in June and atop the leaderboard this week, he feels ready to take his game to high level college golf.

“I think this is huge,” said Lusk, now one of the West Penn Open’s youngest winners in its 123-year history. “I think it shows that I can play at that level. It shows that I can do great things in the game of golf.

“Hopefully I can keep doing great things.”