Penn-Trafford’s Nick Turowski has busy summer planned

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, June 8, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Most high school seniors would rather goof around, hang out with friends or go on vacation before heading to college in the fall.

Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski isn’t one of those seniors.

He’s scheduled a busy summer on the golf course before heading to Morgantown to start school at West Virginia.

He just completed seven consecutive days of competitive golf by playing at the American Junior Golf Association’s The Memorial Junior in Columbus, Ohio. He didn’t play as well as he hoped and missed the cut.

But the highlight of the week was his performance Monday at the United States Golf Association’s Junior Amateur qualifier when he shot a 7-under-par 65 to take medalist honors from a field of 70 at Quicksilver Golf Club in Midway. Turowski had seven birdies during his round, including five on the back nine.

He did that on only four hours of sleep.

Turowski played three rounds in Charlottesville, Va., at the Kenridge Invitational, drove seven hours home to Harrison City and got to bed late and then up early Monday for tee time.

“I was definitely lacked some sleep, but I found a way to play well,” Turowski said. “I played really good in Virginia, but I wasn’t putting great. I was hitting the ball probably the best I’ve ever hit it in my life.”

Turowski said he stayed focused and positive because of how well he was striking the ball. Early on, however, he was in position to make birdie but wasn’t making putts. He kept putting himself in better positions, and the putts started dropping.

“I was extremely frustrated and was losing patience,” Turowski said. “I knew that if I kept hitting it the way that I was, they were just bound to fall.

“I kept hitting it a little bit closer, and those 6-footers turned into 3-footers that I was tapping in, instead of having to make them.”

The win puts Turowski in the USGA Junior Amateur for the second consecutive season. This year’s tournament is July 22-27 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Last year’s event was held at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. He played in the 36-hole stroke-play tournament but did not qualify for match play (top 64).

“Of course I’d like to win it, but the main goal is playing well and qualifying for match play,” Turowski said. “I feel my game is better suited for Oakland Hills than Daniel Island. I’ll be able use my driver more and bomb it. Daniel Island replaced its greens, and they were rock hard.”

Before that, Turowski’s schedule includes a lot of competitive events.

Sunday he’ll be playing in the Sunnehanna Amateur Qualifier, in hopes of reaching the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur later in the week.

He also will compete in the Westmoreland Junior (June 20) and Amateur (July 13-14) tournaments, the Pennsylvania Open Qualifier (July 18), the West Penn Amateur (June 17-18) at Chartiers Country Club and the Pennsylvania Junior in Hershey (June 24-25).

“I’m going to compete in more than 20 events,” Turowski said. “Hopefully playing a lot of will prepare me for my first season at WVU.”

Turowski also will play in the Tri-State Section PGA Junior Qualifier on July 10 at Valley Brook Country Club, the course where he won his second WPIAL Class 3A title back in October.

“I love that course,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going back.”

One area of his game that Turowski has added to his schedule is working out with strength and conditioning coach Tyler Zimmer.

“Working out while I golf is something that’s helped me tremendously,” he said. “I used to get fatigued on the golf course, but now I feel like I can play 54 holes in a day. What I do in the gym really helps me stay fresh.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford