The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Scarpati, Roman reign at 51st Borck
NEW CANAAN — Mia Scarpati and Sophia Sarrazin are not only two of the top teenage female golfers in Connecticut, they are also very good friends.
But friendship takes a back seat when a championship is on the line like it was Wednesday afternoon: the 51st Borck Junior Golf Tournament.
“It’s a little tough. I didn’t want to lose my steely composure. There were some putts I didn’t concede and I felt bad not conceding them,” Scarpati said.
Scarpati and Sarrazin were also in the Borck match-play final last year. Scarpati had a 3-up advantage when a weather delay halted play for the day. Sarrazin came from behind the next day to win.
There were no weather delays on Wednesday at Country Club of New Canaan. And Scarpati never trailed, defeating Sarrazin 3 and 2.
“This is quite important, I won’t lie. A lot of that helped me maintain my confidence throughout the round, especially knowing the lead I had on her last year,” said Scarpati, 16, a Norwalk resident. “If I was able to maintain my composure throughout the round and just play my game, I knew I would be able to come out of it doing the best I could and hopefully, that would be winning.”
Jackson Roman from Berlin won the boys title, defeating Connor Goode of
Glastonbury 3 and 1.
This is Scarpati’s second Borck title in three years. She joins an impressive list of multiple Borck champions that includes Donna Perkins and PGA Tour pro J.J. Henry, who congratulated the champions by phone after the round.
“I won a tournament a PGA Tour player has won,” Roman said. “If I keep working hard, I could potentially play some sort of pro golf. I don’t know if I can get to (Henry’s) level. That’s a different kind of level.“
Sarrazin, a 15-year-old Westport resident, was coming off winning the Connecticut Women’s Amateur last week. She and Scarpati ate lunch together after both won their morning semifinal matches.
“If I win, she is happy for me. If she wins, I am very happy for her,” Sarrazin said.
Sarrazin said she struggled with her putting during the championship match. It was putting that helped Scarpati maintain her lead.