Jul. 21—NORWICH — Christian Jensen became emotional while talking about what winning the 98th Norwich Invitational championship means to him.
Jensen, 34, grew up playing at Norwich Golf Course, competed in the invitational numerous times and knows all about the tournament’s rich history.
Just a short few years ago, he never thought his name belonged on the list of invitational champions on the board inside the clubhouse.
“You’re going to get me choked up,” said Jensen, whose voice began to break up. “It means a lot. I could never dream of being in this position growing up. I never thought I was good enough. There’s been a lot of self-belief, self-talk that, ‘Hey, you are good enough.’
“I’m at a loss for words really what it means, because it’s kind of a culmination of things.”
Jensen, a 2007 East Lyme High School graduate, closed out the championship flight match against Jantzen Vargas on the 17th hole, scoring a 3 and 1 victory.
He remained calm in the face of tournament pressure all weekend long.
“It is match play, so anything can happen,” Jensen said. “All you’ve got to do is give yourself a chance and try to limit mistakes. You can compound errors pretty quickly out here and give holes away. That’s one thing I’m proud of myself this week that I didn’t really do. I kept myself in it. I don’t think I lost a ball all weekend.”
Both golfers eked out tough semifinal victories, with Jensen beating defending champion Chris DeLucia, 1-up, and Vargas defeating Gabe Van Ness, 2 and 1.
Playing for the third straight day, the two first-time championship flight finalists began the title match running on fumes, leading to uneven play at times in the afternoon round.
The match remained tight until Jensen dropped in an 18-foot birdie putt to win the 14th hole and go 2-up.
“My putter has been hot and cold all week,” Jensen said. “That was one that fit my eye because it was downhill and I just had to get it started. The last revolution went over the front edge. That put me 2-up at the time and gave me a little more cushion to just try to hit some quality shots coming home and keep the pressure on.”
Vargas stuck around by capturing the 15th with a par. But Jensen recovered to win the next hole with a short par putt while Vargas’ putter let him down.
“This is my first final in the Norwich Invite, so I’m tired,” said Vargas, a former Killingly High School golfer. “I’m an old, fat 38-year-old and I’m just tired. I didn’t make anything this afternoon. There was no good golf. Christian played well enough. He’s a great kid. Gorgeous golf swing. He deserves to win.
“…. I’ve been playing here since I was 12 years old, so it’s good to finally make a final.”
Jensen has a history of winning flights at the invitational, doing so four other times. But he had never won a championship flight until Sunday.
He accomplished the feat in only his second championship flight appearance.
“It’s a special tournament,” said Jensen, who lives in Wakefield, Massachusetts. “I grew up playing here. My dad was a member here for 20 years, maybe. So this was really where I got introduced to golf.
“I’ve played in the tournament a lot. I would always come out and watch the championship match and always be amazed by how good the guys are. I didn’t have the belief that I was that good.”
Jensen credited Nick Harrington, a three-time Norwich Invitational champion, for instilling in him a positive mindset.
He played with Harrington at the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year. Harrington was an All-New England golfer at Parish Hill High School in Chaplin and also played at UConn.
“He gave me a lot of motivation that I was as good as he is,” Jensen said. “And he’s won this thing two times. So that helped me push on through.”
He hopes that Harrington will join him in the Norwich Invitational field next summer.
Other flights completed championship action on Sunday.
In the first flight, Michael Thompson defeated Glenn Pelt, Jr., 3 and 2, while Tony Susi beat Braden Yeomans, 2 and 1, in the second flight final and Scott Vose knocked off Richard Kutia, 3 and 1, to take the third flight.
Tim DeLucia beat Greg Kosma, 2-up, in the fourth flight while Nick Hynes defeated Richard Denesha, 1-up, in the fifth flight and Andrew Fitch nipped Logan McGeowan, 2-up, in the sixth flight.
