Pevarnik’s 67 leads to WPGA amateur title

July 20, 2022 Last Updated: July 19, 2022 10:39 PM Amateur

Brady Pevarnik, of Latrobe, looks down at the W.C. Fownes Jr. Championship trophy after winning the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association's amateur championship at Butler Country Club on Tuesday in Penn Township. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 7/19/22

PENN TWP — Prepared for a close finish in the final round of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s amateur championship, Brady Pevarnik instead ran away with the title.

The resident of Latrobe and incoming senior golfer at Bowling Green University began the day tied for the lead with Darin Kowalski at even-par 70 at Butler Country Club. Six other golfers were within three strokes of the top spot.

But Pevarnik carded a minus-3 67 to finish with 207 total strokes, four strokes in front of Kowalski and JF Aber.

The only blemish on Pevarnik’s card was a bogey five on the final hole, the 450-yard No. 18.

It mattered little, if at all, to Pevarnik, who moments later was presented the trophy for winning the 122nd annual event.

His previous best finish at the WPGA Amateur was second in 2018 when he was one stroke behind Sean Knapp at Fox Chapel Golf Club.

“This feels awesome,” he exclaimed. “This was the first big tournament I played in back in 2013. I had a chance to win this so many times, led when I was 15- and 17-years old. Karma was on my side today.”

He was strong out of the gate, earning a birdie on two of the first six holes.

“Those were on holes 3 and 6 and I drained a 12- to 15-foot putt on both of them,” said Pevarnik, a member at Hannastown Golf Club. “There were a lot of guys right behind me and I knew it was important to get off to a good start. Those two early birdies were big.

“I didn’t have a score in mind today, just wanted to go out and see what happened. I drove the ball a little better than I did (Monday).”

Kowalski had trailed Pevarnik by eight strokes after the first round, but shot a 66 in the second round to tie him for the lead.

The former fell out of the lead with a bogey on No. 1 Tuesday and never pulled even again.

Aber came into the final round tied for third place with Jeff Varga at plus-1 and got off to a rough start. He took a double-bogey on No. 1 and a bogey on No. 5, both par-4s, to fall to plus-4.

Aber later birdied three holes to bring him to even-par 70 for the round.

“I had to grind it out today after the first hole and I’m proud to get back to par,” said Aber, a 20-year-old from Sewickley and member at Allegheny Country Club. “I made some clutch putts on 16, 17 and 18. My back-nine was pretty unbelievable.”

Aber had golfed in two previous WPGA Amateurs, at Fox Chapel and Indiana Country Club, and failed to make the cut in both cases.

“My game has gotten a lot better in the last year,” he said. “After the start I had today, I just wanted to stay in it and I’m really happy with placing second.”

Following are results from the 122nd WPGA Amateur Championship, which concluded Tuesday at Butler Country Club.

Brady Pevarnik 66-74-67 207

JF Aber 67-74-70211

Darin Kowalski 74-66-71211

Jeff Varga 71-70-71212

Jimmy Meyers 73-72-68213

Justin Griffith 73-72-68213

Jimmy Ellis 74-69-71214

Brett Young 74-68-72 214

Aidan Oehrle 71-74-70215

Ben Huber 73-72-70215

A.Dambrosio 77-71-69217