Kai Chiarenza of Edison accepts the winner’s trophy from New York State Golf Association director of operations Andrew Hickey after capturing the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Louis Walsh of the host club hits a chip on the 14th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa. Walsh finished in second place.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Kai Chiarenza, left, of Edison looks for the playability of his ball on the 10th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa. Playing partner Louis Walsh of Ballston Spa looks on.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Kieran Cummins of Wolferts Roost watches his chip on the 10th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Samantha Schuffenecker of Shaker Ridge tees off on the 14th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur women’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Louis Walsh of the host club walks toward the hole after missing a putt during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Maria Jackson of the host club watches her birdie putt miss on the 13th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur women’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Katlynn Smith of Rip Van Winkle watches her birdie putt go in on the 13th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur women’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
BALLSTON SPA — Par golf can be enough to win a tournament, something Kai Chiarenza of Edison proved Sunday in the final round of the Capital Region Amateur Championship.
Through two rounds Chiarenza led Louis Walsh of Ballston Spa by one stroke and Kieran Cummins of Wolferts Roost by two. They were in the same grouping for the final round, and each shot even-par 71 over the 6,310-yard Ballston Spa Country Club course.
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They finished where they started. Chiarenza, a recent Shenedehowa graduate who will attend Le Moyne in the fall, was the wire-to-wire winner with a 54-hole score of 7-under 206, followed by Walsh at 207 and Cummins at 208. They were six shots clear of the rest of the field.
“I’m going to be honest,” said Chiarenza, who parred 16 holes, “my attitude was try to win as many strokes as I can, but with the nerves today, knowing that there’s really good players in the field, it just felt tense. Sometimes you’ve got to learn to play, even with nerves going off.”
Chiarenza clinched the victory with a difficult two-putt for par from above the 18th hole.
Kai Chiarenza of Edison hits a chip out of a hazard on the 10th hole during the final round of the Capital Region Amateur men’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa. Chiarenza led wire-to-wire and took home a one-stroke victory.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
Walsh, 33, the only player among the top four finishers not currently in college, moved into contention with a 6-foot birdie on 17 and had a 10-foot uphill putt on 18 to tie Chiarenza.
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“I just didn’t give it enough gas,” said Walsh, a Siena University graduate who had three birdies and three bogeys on the day. “All day, I had a hard time adjusting to the greens. They were a little slower today (because of rain) and I just couldn’t figure out how to hit it hard enough.”
Cummins, a rising sophomore at Fordham, had two early birdies to catch Chiarenza but finished with bogeys on the final two holes to finish third.
“I was pretty aware,” Chiarenza said. “I didn’t look at the scoreboard too much. I made sure to stay focused on my game and take every shot, just step-by-step, shot-by-shot, and never get too far ahead of myself and see good shots out there. That’s what matters.”
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A two-time medalist in the Section 2 Class A tournament, Chiarenza didn’t show many nerves the first two days, shooting rounds of 67 and 68. He had two eagles and three birdies Friday, then started his Saturday around with three straight birdies and later added another eagle.
“He doesn’t have all the scar tissue that some of us have,” Walsh said with a laugh, “but he’s got a really nice game. He kept his composure. Really impressive young man.”
Tekla Fine-Lease, a Queensbury High graduate from Essex, accepts the winner’s trophy from New York State Golf Association director of operations Andrew Hickey after capturing the Capital Region Amateur women’s championship Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ballston Spa.
Pete Dougherty/For the Times Union
In the women’s championship, Tekla Fine-Lease emerged from the pack with a 4-under-par 70 in the final round to take a four-stroke victory over Maria Jackson of Ballston Spa.
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Runner-up the past two years, Fine-Lease, a Queensbury graduate who will be a junior at Quinnipiac, had seven birdies in her final round to finish at 4-over 226.
She started her second round Saturday with six birdies and an eagle on the first 10 holes but wound up giving all of those strokes back over the final seven holes to shoot 75.
“I’ve never been 8-under (in) my life,” she said. “That’s just a new feeling that you have to figure out how to deal with. My swing is good. My game is good. I just wasn’t there mentally.
“That’s what happened on the last couple of holes, but then I found myself. I birdied the first three today, so I was, like, OK, I think I’m going to be in the same position again. I just tried to take it shot by shot and started to do some deep breathing and figure it out.”
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Capital Region Amateur Championship scores
Men
- Kai Chiarenza (Edison) 67-68-71—206
- Louis Walsh (Ballston Spa) 68-68-71—207
- Kieran Cummins (Wolferts Roost) 72-67-71—208
- Tim Carlson (Colonie) 77-67-70—214
- Spencer Sautin (eClub Capital Region) 72-72-71—215
- Vinny Liguori (Edison) 71-73-73—217
- Justin Carlson (Colonie) 74-72-71—217
- Ryden Klatt (Edison) 74-70-75—219
- Nick Jadav (eClub Capital Region) 70-73-78—221
- Michael Hakewill (Saratoga Polo) 73-75-74—222
- David Ioele (Saratoga National) 75-71-76—222
- Carter Sica (eClub Capital Region) 75-75-74—224
- Jason Stone (USGA/NYSGA) 73-74-77—224
- Shea Bromirski (Mechanicville) 74-74-76—224
- Jackson Vatter (Capital Hills) 76-74-76—226
- Jim Welch (eClub Capital Region) 76-78-73—227
- Dan Williams (Ballston Spa) 76-76-75—227
- Joe Fitzsimmons (Shaker Ridge) 74-77-77—228
- Josh Hilderbrand (Eagle Crest) 80-74-75—229
- Dennis McGowan (eClub Capital Region) 76-72-82—230
- Jack Leonard (Albany) 77-75-79—231
- Aaron Simone (Pinehaven) 78-76-78—232
- Caleb Blackburn (Wolferts Roost) 79-73-81—233
- Phillip Duell (Mohawk) 81-74-78—233
- Matthew Nawrot (McGregor) 70-78-85—233
- Matt Normandin (eClub Capital Region) 77-78-82—237
- Justin Kirby (Capital Hills) 79-83-76—238
- Liam Gray (Normanside) 76-78-85—239
- Cole Whitman (McGregor) 81-81-78—240
- Matthew Salvadore (Mechanicville) 81-78-82—241
- Joey Degnan (eClub Capital Region) 79-80-84—243
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Women
- Tekla Fine-Lease (eClub Adirondacks) 81-75-70—226
- Maria Jackson (Ballston Spa) 73-77-80—230
- Katlynn Smith (Rip Van Winkle) 73-80-78—231
- Alexa Trapani (Rip Van Winkle) 76-83-76—235
- Samantha Schuffenecker (Shaker Ridge) 78-77-80—235
- Sienna Wheeler (Mohawk) 81-80-75—236
- Dannah Smith (Orchard Creek) 82-84-77—243
- Teagan Mahoney (Colonial) 75-83-85—243
- Avery Minkiewicz (Mohawk) 82-86-82—250