WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Quarterfinal action in the Watertown Men’s City Golf Championship took place Friday at the Thompson Park Golf Course with some talented golfers on the course.
The first match of the day pitted defending champion Joe Tufo against Shawn Thomas.
The first hole of the match sees Thomas with a birdie putt that comes up short. He pars the hole.
Tufo’s par putt to halve the hole slides by. Tufo beats Thomas 3 and 2.
Adam Brown met Michael Burgess in the 2nd match.
On the 1st hole, it was Burgess with a long birdie chance that comes up short. He settles for par.
Brown misses his par putt to go 1 down. Brown wins 4 and 3.
Next up was John Bufalini taking on Nate Heller.
On the 1st hole, Heller sticks his chip shot to within 2 feet, he pars the hole.
Bufalini sinks his par putt and beats Heller 2 and 1.
Last up, Phillip Rogers met Matt Barton.
On the 1st hole, Rogers misses the birdie putt and settles for par.
Barton makes his par putt to halve the hole.
Rogers wins the match 2 up.
One of the biggest softball tournaments in the area will be setting up shop next weekend at a number of spots around Jefferson County.
The Thousand Islands Challenge will be taking place from July 21st through the 23rd at a number of sites around the area.
Tournament organizer Christopher Tehonica says the 3 day long event will bring together some of the best travel teams from around the Northeast.
”We have 83 teams from all over New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and we have players from Canada, one team from Canada,” said Tehonica.
It’s the 20th year for the event which sees teams from U-10 to U-18 compete, with each team guaranteed 3 games.
Tehonica says this tournament is unique for a couple of reasons.
”To me, I believe it’s the biggest tournament in New York State. We’ve got 200 games. It’s unique because we don’t have, to be honest with you, we don’t have the greatest facilities,” said Tehonica.
Things kick off on Friday morning at the Alex Duffy Fairgrounds with a free clinic for players which will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
It’s a clinic that’s free of charge to softball players and is open to those participating in the tournament or players just looking to get a little instruction from some college and high school coaches that will be in attendance.
”The vision is to give every kid a chance to play the game of softball, the greatest game on dirt, let them learn from the college coaches, the high school coaches who put the time in. Last year we were expecting 30 kids. We had 108,” said Tehonica.
Having a number of coaches on the field for the clinic gives the players a chance for more one-on-one instruction and also provides a number of different approaches to the fundamentals of the game.
”You can’t just learn from one person. You’ve gotta have different perspectives, different voices. You take what you like and what you don’t like and add it to your game,” said Tehonica.
There will also be a clinic for the umpires on Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. free of charge for anyone interested that will bring in college umpires from all around the country to give some instruction and insight.
”We just want to give umpires perspective where you can get to if you work hard and get an opportunity to move up the ladder if you desire,” said Tehonica.
A chance for players and umpires to learn and take part in the game they love.
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