BC3 Golf Team Undefeated As Region 20 Championship Tournament begins Monday

The undefeated Butler County Community College men’s golf team is one victory away from competing for a national championship for a seventh time.

The Pioneers (7-0) will battle Monday and Tuesday for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Region 20 title at The Links at Spring Church in Apollo.

The winner of the 36-hole competition earns an automatic berth to the 72-hole NJCAA Division III national championship tournament in June in Chautauqua, where the individual golfers on the team that captures the Region 20 crown would also vie for All-American awards.

BC3 will face in the Region 20 tournament the Community College of Allegheny County; Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, Johnstown; and Westmoreland County Community College, Youngwood.

The Pioneers’ Xander Downing or Mitchell Covert have shot the lowest scores to win medalist honor in each of BC3’s matches this spring and are among favorites to win the Region 20 individual title on the par-72 course in Apollo.

BC3 golfers have won Region 20 medalist honors five times. Antonio Baroffio, a Butler Area Senior High graduate, was the first in 2011 with a two-round score of 165. He was followed by Stefan Carlsson, Knoch, in 2015 with a 154; Tommy Dimun, Butler, in 2016 with a 151; and Troy Loughry, Grove City, in 2022 with a 146 and in 2023 with a 147.

Downing is averaging a 77.5 this spring and Covert, a 77.75. BC3’s Jacob Marquardt is averaging 80; Jaxon Salata, 83.75; Parker Worsley, 84.3; Ben Perris, 94.5; and Noah Ritchie, 95.

BC3 earned automatic berths to the national championship tournament by winning Region 20 crowns in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Pioneers’ highest finish at Chautauqua was fifth in 2023.

The national championship tournament in 2024 drew regional champions from Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina — and Westmoreland County Community College, which edged the Pioneers in a Region 20 tiebreaker.

The 2025 tournament is scheduled for June 2-6 at Chautauqua Golf Club. The 18 individual golfers with the lowest score after four rounds receive All-American status. BC3 golfers have won seven All-American awards.

Downing, Worsley, Salata and Ritchie are graduates of Butler High; Covert, of Lincoln in Ellwood City; Marquardt, of Seneca Valley; and Perris, of Knoch.