Christmas 17—WATERTOWN — Winning the Watertown City Golf Championship never gets old for John Bufalini and his latest effort was no exception.
Bufalini continued his mastery of the event by winning yet another title on Sunday, but to do it, he fittingly had to fend off rival and then reigning champion Joe Tufo.
Bufalini outlasted Tufo, 2 and 1, to secure the championship in the 36-hole final at Thompson Park Golf Course.
“At my age it means a lot, it means so much,” Bufalini said. “You just don’t know how many more you’re going to get at my age. And I really had a grind out there today, but I never got down on myself, I just kept plugging away and did what I had to do . So this one is special.”
The city title is Bufalini’s ninth, as he claimed the crown in his 10th appearance in the event’s final round.
But to accomplish this, Bufalini held off a furious charge from Tufo over the final 18 holes of the day.
“We had a great match, we always do,” Bufalini said. “And the morning round, I played pretty steady, I made some putts early on for birdies and got ahead. I was on par in the morning round and Joey did what Joey does on the final 18. He went out, made a bunch of birdies before we got to the back side.”
Bufalini led by as many as five strokes during the morning session and had forged a four-stroke lead entering the afternoon’s final round.
Tufo then chipped away at the lead and caught fire as he recorded four consecutive birdies, including scoring on the final two holes of the first nine to close within one stroke.
“He played well, I’ve got to tip my hat to him, you know Joey is going to keep coming after you,” Bufalini said. “And I just didn’t have my best stuff this afternoon, but it was good enough. I made the shots I had to make.”
Tufo continued to heat up as he birdied the next hole to pull even with Bufalini, and followed with another birdie on the following hole.
But Bufalini answered with a birdie of his own on the hole to remain even with Tufo.
“That was a key up and down for me, a pivotal hole, because it really looked like he was going to win that hole,” Bufalini said. “I figured him for a three (a par), which he did make. But for me to get that up and down from where I was going over the bunker and having no green to work with, that was probably the shot of the afternoon for me, that was key.”
Bufalini then reclaimed the lead as Tufo bogeyed the next hole and Bufalini would not trail again in the match.
With the triumph, Bufalini also secured his fourth city championship over the past six years, as he last won the crown in 2020.
“John played steady, he only had a few errant shots, but you’ve got to play steady,” Tufo said. “John played well, John is a scholar and a gentleman. You’ve got to give him credit.”
Bufalini had advanced to Sunday’s final by defeating Adam Brown, 3 and 2, in a semifinal match on Saturday.
“The driver is probably the best club in my bag, but this afternoon I just didn’t have it, something was off,” Bufalini said of his play on Sunday. “But I did what I had to do, I had some nice ups and downs out there and I just hung tough. And that’s all you’ve got to do is hang in there and keep grinding and fortunately I came out on top.”
Tufo, was aiming to win his second straight title, as he won last year’s championship as well as in 2003.
“Sure this is disappointing,” Tufo said. “And it’s depressing, because I know I did good, I did good to get this far for the 10th time. But again, I credit him, he played solid.”
Tufo reached Sunday’s final by defeating Philip Rogers in a one-hole playoff on Saturday.