Connecticut State Amateur: UConn's Zaback tops Josephson
NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (June 20, 2014) -- Zach Zaback toppled Kevin Josephson 1-up in Friday's 36-hole championship match to win the 2014 Connecticut Amateur Championship.
In the 112th playing of the event, Zaback, who plays out of TPC River Highlands, took a 1-up lead into the closing nine and didn't relinquish that lead, claiming the state's biggest amateur title at the 6,879-yard, par-72 South Course at Lake of Isles.
It's the first Connecticut State Championship for Zaback, who plays college golf at the University of Connecticut.
The turning point of the match came at the difficult par-4 7th. All square through 25 holes, both Josephson and Zaback drove it into the thick brush lining the fairway. Both players struggled to advance it, with Zaback forced to take an unplayable lie penalty and Josephson unable to pitch out after a pair of swings. With both players lying four in the fairway, Zaback hit a laser-like approach to the back-left hole location and drained a 10-foot downhill slider to take the 1-up lead with just eleven holes to play.
“We both kind of shot ourselves in the foot there, so to speak. I was able to get up-and-down for six and win the hole, which was a huge momentum boost for me.”
--Information from the CSGA was used in this report
View results for Connecticut Amateur
ABOUT THE Connecticut Amateur
The Connecticut Amateur Championship is one of
the
nation’s oldest state amateur golf championships
and
is one of 19 championship tournaments conducted
by
the Connecticut State Golf Association. The
challenging format tests the state's best amateur
golfers over two rounds of stroke play to determine
the low thirty-two match play qualifiers. Two rounds
of match play each day culminate in a thirty-six hole
final to crown the top amateur player in Connecticut.
View Complete Tournament Information