FAIRFIELD — The two matches to decide the 50th Borck Junior Golf Tournament champions played out in a similar fashion Thursday morning.
Both Charlie Duffy and Sophia Sarrazin trailed when lightning suspended play on the back nine on Wednesday afternoon. Both also stood 2-down on the 14th tee Thursday at Brooklawn Country Club.
Both Duffy and Sarrazin won the 14th and 16th holes, helping both golfers rally to win on the final hole and claim the Borck titles for the first time.
“It’s cool to be up there with J.J. Henry (Fairfield native and two-time Borck champion now in his 19th year on the PGA Tour) and a lot of other great names, to be part of that trophy,” Duffy said.
“Going into this week, I thought I had a chance of winning it.”
Said Sarrazin: “Coming back (Thursday) and resetting my mind kind of helped. It was a new day. Even though I was 3 down (through nine holes), I still have a shot.”
Both golfers will also be sophomores this fall: Duffy at Fairfield Prep, Sarrazin at Hamden Hall Country Day, transferring there from Staples.
Duffy lost in the first round of match play last year at the Borck to Will Mallek, his teammate at Prep and the eventual champion. Duffy played No. 2 for the Jesuits this past spring behind Mallek, who has graduated.
Duffy, who plays out of Tashua Knolls GC, faced a 2-foot par putt in the 12th hole to start the day — and he missed it to fall 2-down.
“It was tough having that as your first shot of the day. I’ve been thinking about it all last night coming into today. Then I rushed it completely.”
Duffy also won the par-3 15th hole, taking three holes in succession from Ashton Lewis (Fairchild Wheeler GC). Lewis went 4-over in those three holes.
He then missed a 6-foot birdie on 17 to square the match.
“I couldn’t putt today. That was the problem,” Lewis said. “He (Duffy) was making great putts today.”
Lewis had another chance to tie the match on 18, but just missed the birdie attempt. Duffy made his par to win 1-up.
“I thought it was going in,” Duffy said.
This was the first time Lewis, a rising senior at Fairfield Warde, had made it to match play, falling short in five previous attempts.
“I putted poorly and I lost it. Every other aspect of my game was fine,” Lewis said. “I gave him a run for his money. He gave me a great battle. I commend him for that.”
In the girls final, Sarrazin was 3-down through nine holes to the defending champion, Mia Scarpati. Sarrazin, 14, won the 10th and 11th holes. Scarpati birdied the 12th to go back to 2-up.
Sarrazin won the 14th hole with birdie and the 16th with par.
“I’ve been working hard and practicing a lot, almost every single day,” said Sarrazin, who plays out of Longshore GC in Westport. “I’ve worked on coming back and not letting a bad shot affect me.”
Sarrazin said her “hands were shaking” on the 17th tee and she hit her tee shot into the fairway bunker. She then hit a 165-yard 5-iron out of that bunker to about 12 feet.
“I was trying to breathe and get less nervous (on the bunker shot),” Sarrazin said.
Sarrazin two-putted for par. Scarpati flew her approach from the right rough into the bunker. She failed to get up and down for par, and Sarrazin had her first lead since the opening hole on Wednesday.
“The rough must have caught between the clubface and the ball,” said Scarpati, who plays out of Ridgewood CC in Danbury. “I pulled it a little bit to the left. It was an easy pitching wedge, too.”
Scarpati, a Norwalk resident who will be a junior at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, found the fairway bunker on 18. The ball rolled back into her pitch mark in the bunker, leaving a fried egg lie with an elevated lip right in front of her.
Scarpati hit that lip, then hit her approach to about 20 feet. Scarpati missed for par. Sarrazin left her birdie just short and Scarpati conceded the par putt and the match 2-up.
Starting next year, the Connecticut State Golf Association will help run the Borck tournament. It will remain in its current format and still be held in Fairfield County, although the site for the 51st tournament is still to be determined.
joseph.morelli@hearstmediact.com; @nhrJoeMorelli
50th Borck Junior Golf Tournament
(at Brooklawn Country Club)
Boys final: Charlie Duffy (Tashua Knolls GC) def. Ashton Lewis (Fairchild Wheeler GC), 1-up.
Girls final: Sophia Sarrazin (Longshore GC) def. Mia Scarpati (Ridgewood CC), 2-up.
