Kowalski, Quallich, Morgan and Stimmel earn 2025 WPGA Player of the Year honors
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • October 10, 2025
PITTSBURGH — The Western Pennsylvania Golf Association has unveiled its four Players of the Year for the 2025 competition season.
Darin Kowalski (Men’s), Rick Stimmel (Senior), Michael Quallich (Junior Boy’s) and Mya Morgan (Junior Girl’s) all join a list of some of the region’s most accomplished amateur golfers in its history.
“The WPGA is proud to recognize these four individuals and their performances throughout this past season,” said Terry Teasdale, executive director of the WPGA. “All four have displayed a dedication to their game and continue to be fantastic representatives of golf in our region. We congratulate each of them on their success this year."
Started in 1994, the Player of the Year awards are based solely on an Honor Roll points structure that factors in performance in WPGA, Pennsylvania State and other regional and national competitions and qualifying events.
The four Players of the Year will be honored at the WPGA Champions Dinner and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame ceremony on October 16 at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
Mid-Am Championships Drive Kowalski to first Men’s Title
Darin Kowalski admits that his amateur golf career started to feel a bit snake-bitten during the middle of the summer.
But, after finishing runner-up in the 125th WPGA Amateur Championship — the third time in four years he narrowly missed out on the coveted title — the talented 39-year-old found a way to break through with a pair of exceptional victories on the course.
Kowalski, in a dramatic three-hole playoff, won the 40th WPGA Mid-Amateur Championship in early September, piecing together a masterful two rounds of golf at Green Oaks Country Club.
Just days later, he broke through again, winning the Pennsylvania State Mid-Amateur Championship.
Those two victories, combined with another win in the Tri-State Open Championship and the runner-up finish in the West Penn Am, earned Kowalski his first WPGA Men’s Player of the Year crown, it was announced Wednesday.
“It means a lot,” said Kowalski, a member of South Hills Country Club. “I know that I've had a few runner-ups to Player of the Year, so it has been a goal of mine over the years to get this done, for sure.”
Kowalski, with two young children, a wife and a career that are paramount in his life, was still able to craft a strong season on the course.
“That's the beauty of our game,” he said. “You can continue to work at it and stay in relatively good shape. Certainly, competing against these college kids is not getting any easier.
“I’m going to work my tail off while I can. Juggling my schedules of being a dad and working is not easy. Certainly, my wife gives me a lot of grace from that perspective, which I'm very much thankful for."
Kowalski joins a decorated list of past Players of the Year, including West Penn amateur legends like Nathan Smith and Sean Knapp.
“These guys have been staples in Western Pennsylvania and their resumes speak for themselves,” said Kowalski, who played collegiately at Point Park University. “I grew up looking up to those guys, so to be here in this position and win Player of the Year and kind of follow those footsteps, absolutely, it means a ton.”
After Summer of Memories, Quallich takes Junior Boy’s Honor
Michael Quallich enjoyed one of the most memorable summers that a young golfer could ever dream up.
He won the 105th WPGA Junior Championship and a pair of AJGA Tournaments in consecutive weeks. He traveled to Pebble Beach to play in an event with Rocco Mediate and competed nationally against some of the best players in the nation at the Junior PGA Championship.
But the top memory of 2025 for Quallich, the towering 16-year-old junior at Baldwin High School, came in August when he represented the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association with three other junior players at the 61st Williamson Cup.
“There were so many big names in that (Junior PGA) field,” he said of the national competition that featured the likes of Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie, and many others. To do that and then go straight to the Williamson Cup… I might not have played the best but I definitely realized that I can compete with these guys and just stay towards the top of the leaderboard.”
Quallich placed ninth in the Williamson Cup in Laval, Quebec, which featured many of the top juniors from the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.
Thanks in part to his performance in the Williamson Cup, his major championship win in the WPGA Junior and numerous other high finishes in point-gaining events — Quallich was named the 2025 Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Player of the Year on Tuesday.
“It’s definitely an honor, that’s crazy” he said. “To have that recap of my year, it's been such a great time. Just to get out there and play with all those junior players, with Carson (Kittsley) and everyone – I think a huge part of it is the guys around us in the West Penn. Everyone's so supportive of each other.”
Kittsley, who placed second in the 125th WPGA Amateur Championship this summer, was second on the Junior Boys Honor Roll points list. Both players competed in the Williamson Cup, with Kittsley placing fifth.
In addition to the Williamson Cup and Junior Championship, Quallich was also runner-up at the C.R. Miller Match Play Invitational, Medalist at the PGA Junior Championship Qualifier and third at the Pennsylvania State Junior Championship. He finished seventh at the 32nd WPGA Spring Stroke Play Championship and 16th at the 125th West Penn Am this summer.
“I feel like this year was a huge turning point off the competitive side of the golf course because I've started to really put in more practice,” he said. “And then, along with that, I became more confident. Playing on bigger stages doesn't feel as nerve-wracking.
“It’s been such a blessing playing in all these events, really all across the world.”
Morgan Caps Junior Career with Second Girls Player of the Year Crown
Mya Morgan’s golf career has taken her to great heights and to a variety of the country’s top courses. But her heart — and the foundation of that career — is firmly planted in Western Pennsylvania.
On the bedrock of two strong performances in WPGA championships, an alternate spot earned in the U.S. Junior Girls Championship and a top 15 showing in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls Championship, Morgan was named the 2025 WPGA Junior Girls Player of the Year Wednesday.
It is the second straight year winning the award for Morgan, a senior at Elizabeth Forward High School.
“(WPGA competitions) get me ready for the next level,” said Morgan, who committed to Central Michigan earlier this year. “Playing against collegiate players, playing against amateurs, playing against pros… That set field and that environment really helps me be my best self.”
One of the longest female hitters off the tee this region has ever seen, Morgan claimed runner-up honors in the 6th WPGA Girls Match Play Invitational and placed third in the 18th WPGA Women’s Amateur Championship — finishing behind a recent collegiate grad in Emily Holzapfel and a current collegiate player in Caroline McConnell.
“Going into college, I’m going to be like, ‘hey, I played with the best in Pennsylvania, and I stuck it out,’” she said. “Playing these difficult courses and difficult yardages since I was 13, I know it really helps.”
Morgan recently won her second WPIAL Girls 3A Golf Championship and is in search of a second PIAA state title later this month.
“I had rough patches here and there,” Morgan said of her year. “But I just played my game, stuck with a game plan and made sure that I'm positive. That’s something that I hope people take from watching me. I want to pride myself in that.
“I want that to be the image of me. I don't want them to think that ‘she's just good.’ No, I'm mentally strong.”
Stimmel Captures Third Straight Senior Player of the Year Title
Rick Stimmel has settled into senior golf quite impressively over the past three years.
This past summer, the Connoquenessing Country Club member once again put together a dazzling resumé on the course, earning WPGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors for a third consecutive season — one for each year he has qualified for the prestigious title.
“You can't win them all until you get the first three, right,” Stimmel said with a laugh. “I've won over 20 times since I've become a senior. And it's only year three for me.
“It's a whole new chapter in my life. I still enjoy playing against the kids, but playing against the seniors, it's different. I can't say it's easier or harder. It's just, it's just different.”
Stimmel, at times, has certainly made it look a bit easy.
He finished second in the 94th WPGA Senior Amateur Championship and the Sunnehanna Senior Amateur. He placed seventh in the Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Championship, received an exemption into the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship and had a top ten finish at the 40th WPGA Senior Mid-Amateur Championship.
Additionally, he claimed the 84th Pennsylvania Dressler Senior Championship and won or finished highly in several other events at the regional and state levels.
Competing nationally — for a player who has been highly ranked among American Senior Amateurs the last three years — was a particularly big highlight.
“The U.S. Senior Amateur, that's always a fun one to get into,” said Stimmel who competed for the national title at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas in August. “I got to the second round of match play for that one. That's a memorable one just for the sheer fact of the size and status of it.”
Stimmel, who takes the most pride in his championship performance at the Pennsylvania State Senior Open, and who won the State Association’s Senior Player of the Year award for a third straight season, has established himself as the premier senior player in the state and among the very best in the northeast region of the United States.
But knowing that a new crop of players enter senior golf each season is a driving force in keeping him sharp and on his game in each competition.
“Listen, every year I get a little older and every year there's going to be a new 55-year-old popping up,” he said, lightheartedly. “I like to try to stay on top of these, these awards, as long as I can before I'm in a nursing home or something like that.”
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and nearly 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.