Dufault, Clarey win 4-Ball marathon
Karen Dufault and Carol Clarey outlast Roberta Hunt and
Donna Warner in 26 holes in the title match of the OSWGA tourney.
BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer
Clarey and Dufault pulled out one of the great matches
that will be held by any state association this summer, outlasting Roberta Hunt
and Donna Warner in 26 holes in the title match at Swansea Country Club.
The contest, the longest ever in an OSWGA event, was not
decided until Dufault tapped in a short par putt on the eighth extra hole after
each of the first seven had been halved with pars.
Both sides had several chances to win earlier. However, a
number of birdie putts by each did not fall, while an even bigger number of clutch
par-saving putts to keep the match going did. Clarey had the most dramatic of
the saves, rolling in an uphill 15-footer on the 23rd to keep her team alive.
After two more halves, Dufault finally ended the marathon,
nearly reaching the par-5 eighth in two. She putted from the fringe to five
feet. Knowing she only needed a par to win, she rolled the birdie putt to the
edge, then was conceded the par for the victory.
"That was a fabulous match," Clarey said in
aptly summing up the show. "I would have enjoyed it sitting in a cart
watching.
"I felt like we were both champions, that was so
good," Dufault said. It was a stark contrast to last year, when one of
their opponents, Brenda Nardolillo, could not play in the finals and Clarey and
Dufault won, playing two-on-one against Marisa White.
This time, all four participants helped make it a special
match. After spending nearly seven hours on the course, the players were
drained over the final few holes.
"I thought it would come down to which side made the
mistake first," Dufault said.
That is exactly what happened. Eventually.
On the 26th, Hunt, who played excellently in her return to
competition -- she took time off to raise a family -- pushed her second shot
into the trees. Warner hit her third shot, a chip from about 30 yards, heavy.
The problems led to bogeys for both. Clarey also had tree problems and bogeyed.
For the longest time, it did not look as if either team
would make a mistake. The sides were never more than one hole apart through all
seven hours.
The match started wildly, with each side winning two of
the first four holes. Each had a brief 1-up advantage before they were tied
after five. From there, it was a demonstration on how many ways could be found
to make par. Over the next 20 holes, 18 were halved -- all 18 with pars.
The contest stayed even from 5 through 12, where Dufault
won with a par to put her team ahead. Dufault missed a chance to close out the
match on the 17th, when her three-foot birdie putt to win the hole and the
match spun all the way around the hole and stayed out.
Warner and Hunt stayed alive. But they needed to win 18.
They did. Hunt hit a terrific 4-iron approach on the 361-yard hole to within 12
feet. But she never had to try the birdie putt. Dufault and Clarey both
bogeyed. Warner then rolled in a 22-footer for her par to win the hole and send
it to overtime.
Twice early in the extra session, Hunt was faced with
par-saving putts of at least five feet to keep her team alive. And she made
them. Later, it was Clarey who twice had to deal with par saves, knowing she
needed them to keep her team alive, an eight-footer on the 21st and the
15-footer on the 23rd.
She made both of them, by which time all the players were
getting a bit giddy. As they headed from green to tee, they were all laughing
about how improbable this was.
"I need to go to the bathroom," Clarey said.
"I need something to eat. I'm drained," Warner
said.
It kept going, with the players sometimes hitting the
greens in regulation and missing birdie putts, other times getting up and down
for pars. It was par after par after par until Dufault won it at the 26th.
It was a long day's work for all the finalists. In the
first division, Kyong Kim and Annie Kim edged Kay Bullock and Denise Drainville
in 20 holes. Mary Ann McLaughlin and Val Tessier merely went the regulation 18
to nip Judy Villani and Jannina McCloskey, 1 up.