News Archive

By Mark Gaughan

Mike Wolski’s putter got hot Friday, and the 21-year-old from Lancaster put together a brilliant round of golf to capture the 103^rd Buffalo District Golf Association Individual title at East Aurora Country Club.  

Related: Final Results

Wolski, who just finished his senior year at Division II Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., shot a final-round 5-under-par 66 – the low round of the tournament by two shots – then won a one-hole playoff over East Aurora’s Charlie Fischer. 

Fischer, a 21-year-old who is entering his junior season at the Division I University of West Georgia, fired a final-round even-par 71 to finish 54 holes tied with Wolski, at 4-under 209.

On the playoff hole, the 426-yard No. 1, Wolski made a 16-foot downhill birdie putt, then threw a huge fist pump and roared a triumphant “Come on!”  

“This is the biggest tournament I’ve ever won,” said Wolski. “I was feeling really good coming into this week. I’ve been hitting it really, really solid, and the putter has just been hot and cold lately. That’s kind of always been my kryptonite, I guess you could say. But I knew if I could stay patient, that there was plenty of opportunities out here.” 

It was Wolski’s seventh birdie of the day, and the combined length of those putts was 120 feet. 

“The first two days I struggled a lot with the putter,” Wolski said. “The first day I wasn’t hitting great putts. The second day I was hitting good putts but nothing was dropping. Today I finally started to get some to fall. I knew that was going to be the key for today. I thought 65 or 66 would get close be enough for maybe a playoff.”

Defending champion David Hanes of Crag Burn Golf Club made a strong bid to repeat and briefly held the lead at 3-under with a birdie on the par-3 eighth hole. But bogeys on holes 9, 10 and 11 cost him. Hanes, 28, finished third at 2-under 211. The course played 6,271 yards on the final round. 

Wolski became the 19^th collegiate player to win the BDGA title in the last 27 years, since 2000. As a high schooler at Lancaster, Wolski beat Fischer with a first-playoff-hole birdie to claim the Erie County Interscholastic Conference title.

Wolski’s career at Rockhurst was nondescript until this year, when he earned second-team all-conference honors.

“My senior year was pretty solid,” he said. “The first three years were pretty mediocre, honestly. I finally started to let go I would say, and I started to have some good finishes my senior year.”

At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, Wolski maintains good balance in his swing. But he swings with aggression. He has power.

“I’ve been training a lot and working out a lot the past year, and I’ve been going hard at it the last two or three months,” Wolski said. “I’ve definitely gained clubhead speed. I feel like I can really release it right now.”

Wolski made a 40-foot uphill putt for birdie on the par-4 ninth hole to move to 2-under par. 

“I was just trying to leave it short honestly, just lag it up, and it trickled in dead center,” he said. 

Then on the par-4 11th, despite pulling his drive in the trees, he made another 40-footer for birdie. 

“I did not hit a good tee shot, but I was able to hit a hook wedge to the back portion of the green and dropped another 40-footer,” said Wolski, who is working this summer in the EACC pro shop.

On the par-4 13^th, Wolski cut the dogleg with a 300-plus-yard drive to the front of the green, then two-putted to get to 4-under.

Meanwhile, Fischer had dropped two shots early but holed out an 83-yard wedge for eagle on the par-4 ninth hole to get back to 4-under. 

That’s where he finished, thanks to some gutsy putts down the stretch, including a 7-foot par save on the 470-yard par-4 17^th. 

The runner-up finish was a confidence booster for Fischer, a big hitter at 6-2 and 200 pounds. He started his college career at Division I Mercer in Georgia but it didn’t work out, and he sat out last season. Improved form has landed him a spot at West Georgia, which competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference with the likes of Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville. 

“I’m absolutely excited about it,” Fischer said. “I didn’t really know what was going to be in the books for me when I took a year off from college golf. I kind of found my game again, found the love for it again, and I’ve been playing well this summer. I’m excited to get down there and get to work. . . .  I think my strategy around the golf course has really improved, and that’s been a big step forward, and I drive the golf ball a lot better than I used to." 

Tied for fourth at 2-over 215 were Jaret Chipman and Billy Hanes, the older brother of David. Chipman, a former Canisius University standout, is a Cherry Hill Club member. He placed fourth in 2024 and third in 2023. Hanes, 40, is a two-time NYSGA Mid-Amateur champion and won the BDGA in 2023. He just won his eighth Crag Burn club championship and also is reigning East Aurora club champ.

Wolski is the second Lancaster Country Club member to win the district title, joining Austin Nowak, who won in 2014. 

The women’s BDGA title went to Jocelyn Wintersteen of Cassadaga Country Club. Wintersteen, 16, shot 88-94-79 to best a field of six. She won by two shots over Eliana Wierzbowski, a rising senior at Orchard Park High School and a Gannon University commit. 

Wintersteen is entering her senior year at Cassadaga Valley High School. She won the NYS Federation high school title in 2025 and claimed the Section VI title in 2026. 

“Today I felt I played a lot better than my score,” Wintersteen said. “It was a challenging course, and pars are good out here.”

Good short game play helped her post the low round of the women’s field Friday.  

“I’ve been working a lot on it, specifically my chipping,” she said. “I was always trying to be a better putter. But if you chip it closer, it makes it easier. I definitely made some up-and-downs this week.”