HOPEWELL JUNCTION, N.Y. (July 19, 2025) — Mike Rothberg of Sterling Farms Mens Club used two strong front nine performances in the championship match to capture the momentum and defeat Josh Yan by a 4-and-3 margin to win the 106th Westchester Amateur Championship at Trump National Hudson Valley.
Meanwhile, Kurtis Babczenko of Stanwich and Philip Ohler of Forged Iron Golf captured titles in their respective Senior and Super Senior divisions in closely fought matches.
Related: Brackets | Day 1 Photos | Day 2 Photos | Day 3 Photos
The match began tightly contested, with the opening seven holes seesawing between tied and short held leads. However, Rothberg turned the tide by making a run at the end of the front nine, winning Nos. 8-10 to grab a 3-up advantage.
“It made things a little more comfortable down the stretch,” said Rothberg. “Learning to play with a lead is not something I’ve had a lot of experience with. I just took it as an experience and kept running my process over and over, regardless of the score.”
The composure paid off. Rothberg continued to play well through the middle portion of the match, maintaining the lead before building more momentum in the afternoon round. A string of several wins on holes 19 through 23 pushed him to 7 up.
“I was a little bit nervous, I’m not going to lie,” Rothberg admitted. “But I stuck to the process—something I feel like I’ve rehearsed a thousand times. I tried not to let the moment become too big. Like, if I had a 30-footer, I reminded myself it’s just a 30-footer—not ‘this putt to win the hole’ or ‘I need two putts to win.’ It’s just a 30-footer.”
Rothberg’s game has been trending in the right direction this summer. After a strong showing at the Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship just two weeks earlier, he entered this championship with growing confidence and belief, something he says had been missing.
“I came into this with a lot more confidence than I had going into the Ike,” he said. “The last ten months or so haven’t been what I wanted. But the Ike helped. These last two results have really helped. No matter how low it gets, I’ve proven to myself that I can dig out of it.”
Rothberg’s credits a clear strength throughout the week which was being disciplined and patient. “I just tried not to force things when they weren’t there,” he said. “That’s something I’ve done well the last few years, and I really stuck to that this week.”
Yan was down but not out in the afternoon portion of the match and continued to battle deep into the afternoon. But Rothberg never looked back playing consistent golf down the stretch. It was a complete performance over three days and 106 holes by Rothberg to lead him to his first Westchester Golf Association victory.
The third day of the Westchester Ameteur Championship involved two tight contests in the Senior and Super Senior divisions. Both matchups were tied at least once within the final three holes, before ultimately being decided on the final holes. The Super Senior came down to the last hole, where Philip Ohler one-upped Mark Vassalotti to break the tie and best the two-time defending champion. Meanwhile, Babczenko pulled ahead of Ed McCann of Wykagyl to win the Senior Championship after both players were tied just two holes prior.
In the Super Senior Championship, it was a tale of two segments with the first half occurring in Vassalotti’s favor. He had birdies on the par-3 seventh and par-4 eighth to build a 2-up lead on Ohler.
After that, the second half belonged to Ohler, who finished with par on all but two holes. While those mis-steps did allow Vassalotti to tie the match, Ohler regained the lead for good with his sixth and final par in the last nine holes to seal the victory.
Ohler acknowledged the last shot was stressful and was relieved for emerging victorious.
“I’m just proud of the fact that I was able to stand up and hit that last shot because there was a lot of pressure on that shot, for sure,” Ohler said. “To be able to get back into competitive golf and come away with a victory is just amazing.”
For Ohler, it was his first time playing golf competitively in a while. He said the repetition over the past three days on the course, made areas such as his short game feel more natural.
“It’s been a really long time since I’d been in a match play event,” Ohler said. “The three days kind of got me back into it. I made a couple putts for the first time in three days, and that helped me to get up.”
In the Senior Championship, Kurtis Babczenko overcame a late charge from McCann to win by a 2-up margin.
Babczenko said he was very comfortable with his driving game this week, and wanted to put himself in the best position possible. He proceeded to use that to his advantage early on, building a 3-up lead after the 10th hole.
The next three holes were a different story, as McCann notched a birdie on par-4 11th, along with two pars to tie the match. It remained that way until the final two holes where Babczenko managed to best McCann both times for the 2-and-1 win. Ironically, it was Babczenko’s short game that sealed the win with a 60-foot putt that ended just inches from the hole.
“It’s fantastic,” Babczenko said. “I’m blessed to have just retired nine days ago. Getting back to competitive golf is always fun and it’s great to be out there with everybody. It was a great match today.”
