Rob Juliano came out the door swinging.  He parred the first three holes making it look easy. He sent soaring drives into the air prompting Marc Bohan to query, “And, I am giving him 8 strokes?”  Feeling his power, Rob retorted, “I am planning on winning this title without those strokes!”  He was beating Lazarchick, head to head by 7 strokes, Bohan by 3 and Shaw by 1. Almost as if the golf gods were listening, he immediately gave back 2 strokes to everybody on the fourth hole. He would finish the front suffering through two more sevens posting a front 46. Lazarchick was clearly “psychologically overwhelmed”  with the power of his competitors, feeling a little chilly, not liking the wind and not winning a hole until number 7. He turned the corner with a disappointing 49. Bohan and Shaw each delivered a 41.

Bruno brought the smiling Godfather another Bellini, made with fresh organic peach puree.  The Godfather told him he liked the kid.  Rob was winning on strokes. He had  Lazarchick and Shaw by 1 and Bohan by 3 at the turn. He has the skill and the confidence to bring home a title. He did win the regular season point total and he was looking sharp on this day.

Possibly in an attempt to get into Juliano’s head, on 10, Shaw offered the idea that holes 11 & 12 often had major significance, “Championships are often won or lost on these next two holes.”    When a golden butterfly landed on Rob’s ball on 11, the Godfather raised his glass in a toast to the clear indication of good fortune.  But, Lazarchick won the hole with his second par on the day. Then on 12, both Scotty and Rob imploded with errant swings and the pressure of mind games, struggling to 8 and 9 respectively. When Lazarchick hit a drive too short to attempt a second shot into the wind over the pond, he laid up and then stuck his 3rd shot, following with a second consecutive par, vaulting into the lead!  On 13 Lazarchick made it three in a row.  Scotty was down 6, Rob down 5 and Marc was down 4.

Champions however, must be ahead after 18 holes. Everybody took back a stroke on 14. Then Lazarchick with a major lapse in concentration, dropped 3 more on 15. The match was not over! With a 4 on 16, Lazarchick lost the lead. Scotty chipped in a Birdie to tie. Marc dropped a par to go ahead by 1.  Rob Birdied after placing the ball less than 3 feet from the pin and was now tied for the lead with Marc. Everybody took a 5 on 17.

The gallery was standing, witnessing one of the most exciting matches in OCAGA history. When Rob’s tee shot on 18 flew the trees far right into the adjacent fairway and Marc pulled the ball strong left towards the out of bounds markers, the door to victory nudged open ever so slightly. Scotty missed his drive sending the ball too close to the trees on the right. Lazarchick cut the center of the fairway, but into the wind he would not be close enough to reach in two. He followed with a straight shot down the middle, still short of the green.

Not a sound was heard in the Polish American Tavern. The Godfather was now standing in the Italian Bistro. Major cheering was about to begin. Scotty Shaw hit a beauty, from under the trees back into play, even with Lazarchick on the fairway. Marc was “in bounds” by inches and was able to send the ball down towards the green on the right side, very impressive. All three would finish with fives.

Rob Juliano surveyed his options. He was so far right he decided his only chance was a blast over the trees towards the green and hopefully find safe landing. Every champion remembers defining shots in the tournament. The Birdie on 16 brought him back to belief. A huge swing, hitting the green in 2 on 18, brought out a roar in the Bistro!

Rob Juliano finished with a short putt for Par. He had overcome adversity, turbulent emotions, feeling of lost opportunity and the fear of an impossible shot,  to beat the best the OCAGA Tour had to offer.  He won the 2016 Championship!

http://ocaga.com/CHAMPIONSHIP2016.pdf