Peters Township golfer wins championship
If the summer is any indication, Connor Schmidt of Venetia should have an even better autumn on the links as he embarks on his junior season at Drexel University. The Dragons begin their season Sept. 8 at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial Invitational, which will be held at Seven Oaks Golf Course in Hamilton, N.Y.
After narrowly missing a victory at the 114th Western Penn Open, Schmidt captured the 105th Pennsylvania Amateur Championship played July 30-Aug. 1 at the legendary Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown.
“Winning the state amateur is a big deal,” said golf pro David Kuhn. “I think it sends him back to Drexel with a lot of confidence for his junior season and gives him validation that he can play and win at a high level.”
In winning his first Pennsylvania Amateur title, Schmidt fired a final round 65. He scored six birdies in his final 10 holes to become the first Dragon to win the tournament.
“We have worked extensively on his putting and it paid off as he was reading the greens very well and controlling his speed at an elite level,” Kuhn said, noting how Schmidt holed putts of 12, 10, 8, 15, 6, 16 and 16 feet for the string of birdies. “His eight-hole stretch led to the win.”
Schmidt started the tournament with a three-under-par 67 before shooting a 71 during the second round. His final round didn’t start off as well. He bogeyed two of his first four holes and had only one birdie as he moved to the ninth hole.
But after a 6-iron left him 10 feet for birdie on the 617-yard par 5, Schmidt knew he had a chance. His putt then did a full circle around the hole before falling for the birdie that started a stretch of six red numbers in an eight-hole span. Schmidt held on to card a 65 for the round and a 7-under par 203 to win the championship.
“That was the turning point,” said Schmidt, who is a member of Nemacolin Country Club. “I got it going after that.”
The next hole, a 155-yard par 3, saw the 20-year old strike a 9-iron for another 10-foot birdie. He nearly eagled the 11th hole but tapped in for a third straight birdie. Four in a row was not to be as his putt on the 12th didn’t fall. Schmidt did, however, birdie the next two holes. On 13, his approach came to just under six feet and he rolled it in. Then on 14, the eventual champ knocked it close again.
“That was probably my best swing of the day,” Schmidt said of his 5-iron approach on the 14th.
Despite a strong finish by Anthony Sebastianelle – the pair remained tied for the lead after 15 holes – and after weathering worsening weather conditions, Schmidt prevailed. His birdie on the 16th hole gave him the lead and a pair of pars on the final two holes earned him a two-shot victory as Sebastianelle finished at 205.
Prior to winning the amateur title, Schmidt finished runner-up at the West Penn Open. He narrowly missed pulling out a victory. After 54 holes, he was tied with two others at 214, forcing a playoff. On the fifth extra hole, Jimmy Gillam carded a birdie for the win.
In the early going, Schmidt was on fire. He sat at three-under par after a birdie at 14. He bogeyed the next two holes and then shot par on the 17th hole. Despite a bogey at 18, Schmidt finished the final round at even par.
“I thought I played pretty good,” Schmidt said.
Since matriculating to Drexel, Schmidt has played tough for the Dragons. As a freshman, he ranked second on the team with a 73.9 stroke per round average. He had three top 10 finishes as a rookie and was Drexel’s top finisher at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships with a 217. He capped that season by qualifying for the U.S. Amateur played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Last fall, Schmidt was named to the All-CAA Tournament team after leading Drexel to a third-place finish. Individually, he placed third overall at the championships.
“So expectations are for a stronger junior season,” Kuhn said. “I’m very happy for him (winning the state amateur). Connor is a great young man who has worked hard and deserves everything he gets.”
Off the links, Schmidt works hard, too. In the classroom, he gets good grades. Each year at Drexel, he has displayed his academic acumen. He has been named to the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll both years. He was also named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Golf Team, which is voted upon by the sports information offices of the 30 colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area.
The 20-year-old son of Aimee and Ralph Schmidt maintains a 3.60 GPA. He is a business analytics major.
Though he stands 6 feet, 5 inches, Schmidt opted not to play basketball as his mother did at Carnegie Mellon or baseball as his father had at George Mason. He competed in golf at Peters Township High School. As a three-year letterwinner and team MVP in 2016, he won a PIAA Western Regional championship and the KPGA tournament title. He helped the Indians win back-to-back WPIAL Class AAA team titles in 2014 and 2015.
He graduated magna cum laude, belonged to the National Honor Society and was the recipient of the Reid Marshall Memorial Scholarship.