Who Is Austin Lemieux? Mario Lemieux Son Who Left Hockey For Golf And Just Aced The Mid-Amateur Championship
He is 6-foot-4, can hit a golf ball further than most people who have ever tried the sport, and just made a hole-in-one on his way to a four-shot win at the WPGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Austin Lemieux has his own name now.
Austin Lemieux won the 41st Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship at Fox Chapel Golf Club with a four-shot victory, finishing at 7-under par 133 after rounds of 67 and 66. The winning moment came on the third hole of his final round when he aced it for his fourth career hole-in-one, taking the lead and never giving it back. It was his second WPGA Mid-Amateur title, following his first win at Nemacolin Woodlands in 2023. Both times, the name above his on the leaderboard told a story: son of Mario Lemieux, one of the greatest hockey players who has ever lived. Both times, what he did on the course was entirely his own.
From Hockey to Golf: How Austin Lemieux Found His Game
Austin grew up in Pittsburgh, the son of Mario Lemieux and his wife Nathalie. Mario won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, two Hart Trophies, three Art Ross Trophies, and is widely considered one of the two or three greatest players in NHL history. Austin played hockey through his younger years but eventually stepped away from the sport his father dominated and invested everything into golf instead, a choice that raised eyebrows in a city still defined by what his family name means at PPG Paints Arena.
He is 6-foot-4, hits the ball a considerable distance, and has developed a short game good enough to card tournament rounds in the mid-to-upper 60s at competitive amateur level. At the 2023 Mid-Amateur, after winning his first title, he told reporters simply: "I know I'm ready." That confidence has only grown since.
What Austin Lemieux's Golf Career Looks Like From Here
The WPGA Mid-Amateur is open to amateur golfers aged 25 and over who reside in western Pennsylvania, which limits the field to a regional competition rather than a national one. Austin has previously pre-qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour, the developmental circuit that feeds players into the PGA Tour, with former competitor Rick Stimmel describing his upside as genuine. His fourth career hole-in-one at Fox Chapel adds another memorable chapter to what is quietly becoming one of Pittsburgh's more interesting second-generation sporting stories, playing out on fairways rather than ice.