By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The great ones make their craft look so easy and simple, effortless in execution. Even during the hottest of circumstances – and the final round of the Bedford Men’s City Tournament defined that, in terms of thermal heat and intense pressure – they show little evidence of the fire around them.
That’s how cool Colten Girgis was during Sunday’s sweltering parade to his first City championship. Oh, he was grinding, he got a little hot under the collar when he made a mistake. But he never showed it. He would have been the perfect model for one of the old-school deodorant commercials. Remember Dry Idea from the 1980s? He never let them see sweat.
Sparked to greatness by a lightning-bolt eagle on the front nine, closing with a competitor’s steel focus during a sensational back nine, Girgis cruised to the title, matching his own course record with a sizzling 64 while rolling to a runaway victory at Otis Park.
Girgis completed four rounds at 15-under 273, pulling away to a six-shot victory over Nick Bellush. His blistering 64 matched his mark from the third round last year (and Aaron Harrell’s equal score en route to his 2018 crown). This round might be the best of those three, because it came during the final day.
What started as a potential three-man shootout of challengers (including Trevin Hutchinson) ended with a Girgis coronation. Bellush began the day just one shot back, while Hutchinson was three strokes behind. When the final shot was fired, they were cut-up grass clippings behind the Girgis mowing machine.
“It’s an honor and privilege to be part of a great group of guys who have played great golf,” Girgis said after adding his name to the long list of champions, in an event that started in 1931. “That’s a long time, almost a century. A lot of people I know have won it, so to be a part of that group is an honor. I think I need to let it all soak in. I’ve been grinding my butt off.”
In reality, he was wedging his butt off. That weapon was the difference. When he was poised to strike, that club got him to birdie range. When he misfired, that club rescued him from bogey danger. He birdied seven holes, along with the electric eagle, but he also carded par three times with clutch saves.
“I knew my putter today,” Girgis said. “Sometimes it gets away from me. When those two (wedge and flat blade) are together, it’s fun.”
Girgis got off to a great start, with birdies on the first two holes, both putts from three feet. He blasted a bunker shot to 10 feet and drained the putt for birdie on the par-5 fifth. But Bellush was keeping pace, carding three consecutive birdies on holes 3-5. Then came the shocking momentum shift. After punishing a long drive within 30 yards on the short seventh, Girgis flipped a perfect wedge that dug in with spin, bounce once, then rolled gently the final six feet for the stunning eagle.
“Normally I can tell, within the first few holes, if I will have to grind for a score, or if it will come easily,” Girgis said. “I birdied the first two, and knew I had the touch. From there on, it was trying to get myself in a good spot off the tee, to give myself a wedge to a 10-footer for birdie. Those are what I made.
”On the seventh, it was a green light, put just a tad bit of spin on it, just hit it perfect. Got a little lucky, and it dropped right in.”
When Bellush bogeyed the eighth, Girgis had his first chance to slam the door on his pursuers. But his two-footer for par lipped out, and he gave himself a half-mental, half-verbal butt kicking during a lonely walk to find his tee shot on the ninth fairway. “It was an unfocused putt, that’s why I was kicking myself,” Girgis admitted. That brief stumble was given added weight when Bellush buried a six-footer for birdie on the ninth green, making the turn only two shots back.
Then came the back nine. Bellush missed a three-foot slider for par on the 10th, and Girgis pounced on the opening. He birdied the 11th with a wedge pitch to five feet, conquered the 12th with a downhill 12-footer, and added the dagger with a beautiful approach to four feet for birdie on the dangerous 15th hole. In six holes, the gap exploded to six shots.
“His eagle was pretty surprising,” Bellush said. “To see him make that, I knew the tides would switch a little bit. And on the back nine, I ran into ‘the man.’ It was tough on my end, not playing my best golf. At the same time, I have to give props to Colten. He played a great round of golf. He deserves this.“
With a shot at breaking the course record, Girgis missed a seven-footer on the 16th, then added his final birdie on the 17th. On the final hole, his tee shot landed on the wrong side of the two-decked green, but there was no way he was missing the last five-footer for par.
“I don’t care as much about winning as I do competing,” Girgis said. “Ask anyone I know, any game I play is a competitive game, everything I do.”
Bellush, who eagled the 17th, fired a final-day 69 to finish at 279. Under normal conditions, he would have taken that number prior to the round and liked his chances. Hutchinson posted a respectable 72 to conclude at 4-under 284, although it seemed his last round was an exercise in constant escapes from escapades in the cover of trees.
“My wedges and iron play wasn’t up to my standards,” Bellush said. “I just didn’t have the scoring ability, hit too many bad shots. But I’m not disappointed.”
”Knowing his game, and mine, it could have fallen the other way,” Girgis said. “It just so happened I could make the putts, make some tough up-and-downs. Another day it would be Nick’s turn.”
The good news? Girgis, a three-time Junior City champion, is only 22 years old, Bellush is a mere 20, and Hutchinson is also in that age bracket. With Harrell, a five-time winner, and Trey Turner (a multiple champion) still in the mix, there should be plenty of showdowns ahead.
