Jul 12, 2025
Fredonia’s Kaison Malkowski, center, won the Drive, Chip & Putt local qualifier at The Ridge Golf Course in Waterford, Pa. on June 19. Submitted Photo
Most golfers dream of getting the chance to play at the best golf courses in the world and it doesn’t get much better than Augusta National Golf Club. The host of perhaps the most prestigious major championship, the Masters, Augusta is an exclusive course in which only the elite and very best golfers get a chance to play on.
Not too far away from an opportunity to grace those hallowed grounds is Fredonia’s Kaison Malkowski.
Competing in Drive, Chip & Putt — an event founded by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and the PGA of America — Malkowski is just two events away from getting the opportunity to compete at one of the best courses in the world.
“I was watching the Masters and they had commercials for it,” Kaison’s grandmother, Terry Piccolo stated. “I started researching it and it was a program put on by the PGA. There were local places here in Western New York in which you could go and qualify, so I signed him and his brother Carmine up. They both went and competed and Kaison won for his division.”
Malkowski wasn’t just one of the top three qualifiers in last month’s event, but he was the overall winner for 14-15 year old boys with a score of 92. Malkowski was the top driver with a high score of 37, finished second in chipping with 20 points and added 35 in the putting category.
“He’s very, very determined,” Piccolo said about Malkowski. “He’s extremely competitive, but also very humble. He’s very serious about his activities and what he’s doing. … So just for him to go and compete and win, it’s just remarkable to watch him achieve something that he’s striving for.”
His victory came last month at The Ridge Golf Course in Waterford, Pennsylvania and booked him a spot in the sub-regional qualifier on Aug. 5 at Glen Oak Golf Club. If he can replicate his success there and then again at the regional qualifier in September at Laurel Valley Golf Club, Malkowski will play in the finals at Augusta National Golf Club just before next year’s Masters.
“It’s still the same format — Drive, Chip & Putt — and they compete a week prior to the men’s tournament,” Piccolo added.
It didn’t take long for Malkowski to get into form after finishing up his season with the Fredonia High School squad earlier in June.
“I signed them up right after Augusta,” Piccolo said about the event. “He is an avid golfer, he plays for Fredonia and his coach is Ross Conti. He’s done very well with the high school program and absolutely loves playing golf.”
Malkowski didn’t just thrive in one category, but was near the top in all three. His attention to all the details of the game have put him in positions for success.
He has honed in his game at Shorewood Country Club and he has played all over since a young age with his father and grandfather.
“He was in a league through Shorewood,” Piccolo added. “He plays with his grandfather and his dad. His grandfather has had him playing since he was very little.”
Now with school out for the year, Malkowski has had all the time in the world to practice and prepare himself for the next event at Glen Oak in East Amherst on Aug. 5.
“He’s excited about it, just having the opportunity,” Piccolo said. “He puts a lot of work in. He has a friend who has a simulator. Just as an example, they had a tournament with high school and he and his friend came home and did another nine holes. He just wants to keep playing, he’s very, very dedicated to it.”
Leading up to the sub-regionals, Malkowski will be working on his driving, chipping and putting and if things go right he just might find himself playing where some of the greatest moments in golf have occurred, Augusta National Golf Club.
Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of New York, Inc. | https://www.observertoday.com | PO Box 391, Dunkirk, NY 14048 | 716-366-3000
