Continuing Legacies: WPGA standouts Quallich, Kittsley make college commitments
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • November 13, 2025
Michael Quallich had a couple of sleepless nights during the late stages of his recruiting process. But nervousness or indecisiveness over the matter wasn’t the cause for the brief bout with insomnia.
Quallich, a 16-year-old who took the local junior golf scene by storm in 2025, announced his commitment to play at Notre Dame on November 7.
The decision came quickly but also followed a lengthy and somewhat complex journey for the Baldwin High School student who began playing golf as a young child at First Tee Pittsburgh, which provides beginners with the instruction and equipment necessary to play the lifelong game.
“I didn't sleep for two days after I committed,” said Quallich, a lumbering, big hitter of the golf ball. “I was just looking back on everything that I’ve gone through, with my parents and my family, and I had to take a step back and realize what I’ve been given. This is indescribable.”
Quallich has been a talented player on the junior and amateur golf scene for the last couple of years, but he admits that, for most of young career, an opportunity to play for a program like Notre Dame seemed out of reach.
“Initially, I wasn’t even going to email schools like Notre Dame or Duke,” said Quallich about the early stages of recruiting. “I wasn’t to that point, at their level. But a couple of guys put in a good word for me.”
One of those guys was Rocco Salvitti, an accomplished local amateur player who is in his junior year at Notre Dame. Salvitti not only got Quallich onto Irish head coach John Handrigan’s radar but was also involved in showing off South Bend and the university to Quallich during his visit.
“I ended up playing a round of golf with him and having dinner two nights,” said Quallich, who will join a growing lineage of Western Pennsylvanians to play for the Irish, including Salvitti, Palmer Jackson and Patrick Kelly, who have all donned Notre Dame colors in recent years.
“The guys in West Penn, everyone is so supportive of each other. We’re all cheering each other on.”
Shortly after his visit — during the week of Halloween — Quallich played in an event in Kentucky. Notre Dame assistant coach Zac Zedrick came to watch him play and offered Quallich a scholarship in the clubhouse following his round.
“He was like, ‘if you guys need some time to figure it out, you can have it,’” said Quallich. “My mom and I, we sort of looked at each other and we just shook our heads no and he was like, ‘all right, let’s do this.'
“The team chemistry at Notre Dame, the way things are run, I don’t think it can be beat. It’s not even a team up there. It’s a family. The coach calls his players his ‘kids.’ Everyone there just takes pride in being at Notre Dame and they want to succeed. They’re there for a reason.”
This summer, Quallich thrived on the junior golf scene, winning multiple AJGA competitions, as well as the 105th WPGA Junior Championship and several other events. He also represented his region at the 61st Williamson Cup matches for a second straight year, teaming up with three other locals in the prestigious competition in Laval, Quebec.
It was there where he bonded with one of his teammates and now good friends, Carson Kittsley, a mild-mannered yet dominant swinger of the club who has claimed back-to-back state titles in the PIAA Class 3A Championships.
Just days before Quallich announced his intentions to enroll at Notre Dame, Kittsley made his commitment to another university with local golf ties, Penn State.
While Quallich’s decision to attend Notre Dame was a bit more spur-of-the moment, Kittsley has been eyeing Penn State since he first picked up a golf club. But it wasn’t until the last few months that his hope became a reality.
“Coach (Mark) Leon started showing interest in me over the summer,” said Kittsley. “He watched me at the final round of the West Penn Am at Sunnehanna (Country Club). We kept in touch and I played well. I qualified for two of the major junior events and just kept playing well. Things got serious in September.”
Kittsley finished in a tie for second in the 125th WPGA Amateur, nearly becoming the youngest winner in the esteemed competition’s history at just 16 years old.
Leon showed up on the tournament’s final day, pulling into the parking lot in a Penn State branded van. The colors and logos were quite familiar for Kittsley, whose father, Brad, golfed for the Nittany Lions from 1994-1998.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Kittsley, an Oakmont Country Club member. “He was kind of hands-off with my recruiting, which was good. He said it was my decision and he wasn’t going to push me one way or another.
“I’ve been a Penn State fan all my life, so I was really excited. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to go to Penn State. With this happening, it’s all coming full circle. It’s really cool.”
And the Fox Chapel High School junior is more than familiar with his next home course — Penn State’s Blue and White Golf Course in State College. He claimed both of his PIAA titles on the track.
“It’s showed me that it’s a place where I can definitely play well,” he said. “I can prove how good of a player I am. It’s a place where I can get better. Coach Leon seems really good. I think he can help out my game a lot.”
Like Quallich, Kittsley was able to gain some insight from a Western Pennsylvania who played at his future school in Jimmy Meyers, a fellow Oakmont member who starred at Pittsburgh Central Catholic and played for the Nittany Lions from 2019-2023.
“I’m good friends with Jimmy,” said Kittsley. “We chatted a bunch about it. I saw him at Oakmont a bunch this summer and we had some good conversations. He helped me out in the process, which was nice. He said he had a good time and really enjoyed it. He thought I could have a good time there, a good experience, as well.”
Both Quallich and Kittsley desire to study business in college. They also both have goals before they get there, including more wins in high school, junior and amateur competitions, in which both players used as springboards to the next level this past summer.
“This summer proved to me that I’m good enough, that I’m able to hang with some of the best players in the state,” said Kittsley. “It was pretty cool and a good motivating factor in how much better I could go if I keep working hard at it.”
And the two, who also represented a victorious Team WPGA in the 2025 Palmer Cup in early September as two of the event’s youngest competitors ever, have credited their experiences in West Penn events for their successes and ability to be recruited.
“It’s helped me out a lot,” said Kittsley shortly after winning the WPIAL Class 3A title in late September. “The West Penn runs great events and there’s great competition in there. It’s really fun to play against those players.”
Added Quallich: “Two or three years ago, I would play in West Penn events with kids who had coaches following them and recruiting them, or I would play with a kid who is committed. I was looking up to those people. To now be with them is just insane.”
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.