Christmas 15—WATERTOWN — Joe Tufo and John Bufalini have been friendly rivals on the golf links over the years.
Now the two, who have combined to win a collective 10 Watertown City Golf Championships, will now face each other in the tournament final for the first time.
Tufo, the tournament’s reigning champion, and Bufalini each recorded semifinal victories on Saturday at Thompson Park Golf course.
Tufo did so in suspenseful fashion as he bested Philip Rogers in a playoff. Meanwhile, Bufalini also prevailed in his match by defeating Adam Brown, 3 and 2.
Now Tufo and Bufalini will square off in the City’s 36-hole championship match, which is scheduled to begin at 9 am Sunday. The second half of the match will be played in an afternoon session.
“This will be my 10th time there and I love it,” Tufo said of reaching the final. “I love it, there’s not a better feeling. And I can’t wait to play John, John’s a gentleman, he’s a scholar and a gentleman.”
Against Rogers, Tufo led by one through the first nine holes and birdied the second hole of the second nine, eventually building a three-stroke advantage through five holes.
“That was a close one,” Tufo said. “Even this kid, [Rogers] is from Fort Drum who is actually a very good guy and he knew how match play goes. Like yeah, were all friends, enemies on the course, I’m sure. But I think he played well.”
But Rogers recorded a birdie of his own on the next hole, and Tufo faltered down the stretch and couldn’t finish off the match in regulation.
Tufo then registered a par on the first playoff hole to edge out Phillips.
“You’ve just got to concentrate, you’ve got to put it right in the back of the hole,” Tufo said of his struggles while putting on the last four holes of the back nine. “And then (in the playoff), I hit a good shot to put the pressure on him … and he missed that (putt), he didn’t see the break at the end, that’s all it took. But I’ m happy, very happy.”
Also in the semifinals, Bufalini built a two-stroke advantage through nine holes, recording a trio of birdies in the process, including on two of the first three holes.
“Adam and I always have close matches and I knew it was going to be a grind today,” Bufalini said. “And I think it worked out that way today, basically I did what I had to do. I hit fairways, hit a lot of greens in regulation and made a few putts, but not too many today.”
Brown, who recorded two birdies of his own during the opening nine holes, then generated another to kick off the back nine and pull within a stroke. But Bufalini answered with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes en route to securing his win.
“We had a lot going on, Adam chipped in for birdie on the second hole and then I chipped in for birdie on the third hole, so we had a lot going on early on,” Bufalini said. “It was a good match.”
Last year, Tufo also won in the semifinal round in a playoff, with a 19-hole win over Mitchell Scoville.
He then bested Dylan Kerenahan in the final to claim his second City title and his first since 2018.
Bufalini, who has won eight City championships, last competed in the final in 2020, when he won the title by defeating longtime rival Bob Hughes in the final, after defeating Brown in the 2019 championship match.
Tufo will compete in his 10th City tournament final on Sunday, as will Bufalini, who each count one another as friends.
“So at this stage in my life, it feels good to be back in the finals again,” Bufalini said. “I’m just looking forward to playing Joe, a good friend of mine and hopefully we’ll have a lot of fun tomorrow.”
Bufalini added: “In reality, I have a lot of friends up here, and they’re also competitors when this tournament week rolls around. And so chances are you’re going to be playing one of your close friends at some point. And anytime you’re playing with a good buddy, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”