Jun 18, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

SEWICKLEY – Connor Schmidt had a one-shot lead at the West Penn Open walking to the 18th tee when play was temporarily suspended because of severe weather.

That forced him to wait about an hour to finish his round, but the delay didn’t seem to faze him.

When play resumed, Schmidt, a 2016 Peters Township graduate, birdied the final hole to finish at 10-under par and secure victory at the 122nd West Penn Open Wednesday at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

“I was able to check the leaderboard and saw I had a one-shot lead,” Schmidt said. “It was a stressful hour during the delay, knowing what I needed to do to finish it off, but I was able to calm my nerves and birdie the last hole. I made a 15-footer down the hill that kind of had a left to right (break). I was pretty nervous on the putt, but hit it right where I was looking and hit it dead center.”

Schmidt shot a five-under par round of 66 to win by three shots. It was the best round of the day. It was his first win as a professional.

He earned $6,500 for first place. Chuck Tragesser, Bob McClellan and Beau Titsworth finished in a three-way tie for second at seven-under.

It’s the second consecutive year a Peters Township grad has won the event. Alec Stopperich won it last year at Indiana Country Club.

“We graduated together at Peters Township,” Schmidt said. “Our names will forever be next to each other on the trophy, which is pretty cool.”

After rain suspended play Tuesday, Schmidt had to finish the final nine holes of his second round Wednesday morning, meaning he had to play 27 holes in one day.

He came into the final round tied for fifth, two shots off the lead which was shared by Titsworth and Scott Jordan, but quickly erased the deficit by going four-under through his first three holes.

Schmidt birdied the first hole, eagled the 500-yard par five second hole and birdied the par four third.

“I haven’t got off to a start like that in a while,” Schmidt said. “You can get off to a hot start on (Sewickley Heights). The first hole is a short par four and a par five second. Number three and five are driveable par fours, so I was able to get to those off the tee. I hit the ball great. I knew at that point I probably had the lead, because I got to 10-under pretty quick, but it’s never easy to close it out.”

Schmidt added another birdie on the fifth hole and bogeyed the ninth hole to go out in 32. He parred every hole on the back nine until the birdie on 18, a 400-yard par four.

Schmidt is a multi-time champion of the West Penn Amateur and won the Pennsylvania Amateur in 2018 at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown.

He now adds the West Penn Open trophy to his collection, joining a list of champions that includes seven-time major champion and professional golf hall of famer Arnold Palmer, and Neal Shipley, who was the low amateur at the Masters last year.

Other champions include former PGA tour professionals like Bob Friend, Bob Ford and Trinity grad Steve Wheatcroft.

Schmidt is headed to Canada next week to try to earn a spot on the PGA Tour Americas for the summer. The PGA Tour Americas is a combination of the old Canadian Tour and Latin America Tour. The second half of the season is played in Canada and starts in July.

“It’s a 72-hole tournament that they call a Q-school,” Schmidt said. “The top 11 finishers get full status on the tour. Hopefully I’m able to get one of those spots and play in Canada all summer.”