MARBLEHEAD — Make that four consecutive Tedesco Men’s Club Championships for longtime member Brad Tufts. A Marblehead native, Tufts captured his seventh club title Sunday. He’s now tied with Ted Carangelo for the second most Tedesco Men’s Club Championships. Cy Kilgore is the overall leader with 18 club titles.
“It’s great,” said Tufts, 38. “Every one is different. Even when you win a few in a row, you never know if it will continue or somebody else will have a great year. It’s nice to continue it and keep the streak. It’s great to do what you’re capable of.
“It’s fun to keep it rolling. I hope there’s more in the future. To be alongside Ted is a great achievement.”
Tufts said it wasn’t easy defeating George Zolotas in Sunday’s final.
“George is a great player,” Tufts said. “He’s a former Division I player. He played a great tournament. We both played well throughout our match. I just took control on the back nine a little bit. But he’s a great player and it’s always a great match whenever we’re against one another.”
Tufts comes from a long line of Tedesco members. It started with his maternal great grandfather, Harold Symmes, and continued with all four grandparents, Virginia and Richard Symmes, and June and Ed Tufts (paternal). His father, Dana Tufts, became a club member in the 1990s.
“It’s great,” Tufts said. “It’s a great club to belong to. It has a very strong family connection to me. Even more so than playing with friends, Tedesco’s almost part of our family at this point. It’s always fun to be there because there’s always a family member or two around. My younger brother, Roger, is also a member. He’s had a great summer of golf as well.”
“Brad’s a fourth-generation club member,” Tedesco Head Golf Professional Bob Green said. “That’s great to see. It’s great to see Brad have so much success. He’s a fine player. He does well when he plays away from here. A few years ago, he did well in the State Amateur. He plays well in away courses and at the state level. We’re very proud to have Brad be our club champ and he’s a terrific representative for Tedesco.”
Green said things went well over the weekend. The weather for the tournament turned out in its favor despite cloudy skies Saturday and Sunday.
“The weather was pretty good,” Green said. “It was pretty foggy Saturday morning. It lifted just enough to be, from a golf standpoint, a very good day. There was no wind Sunday morning, which is extremely rare for Tedesco. The East wind picked up on the eighth green. The golf was excellent. For the 15 holes played, Brad was one under par. George played very well on the front nine and had a couple tough breaks on the back nine.”
The tournament started with some down-to-the-wire play Friday.
“There was a six-way tie for the last two spots,” Green said. “It provided some drama and a lot of interest. It was a fun club championship and it was terrific to watch.”
Up next on Tedesco’s schedule is the annual Labor Day Classic, a two-day tournament that begins August 31.
“It’s a foursome,” Green said. “We played a modified Stableford system, so you’re playing for points. It’s a nice tournament, very informal. There are no assigned tee times. The highest number of points wins, which is kind of counter to what our philosophy is. It’s a fun thing. There aren’t many tournaments where you pick your own foursome and play for two days. It’s a fun event. The members like it.”
