75TH Connecticut Junior Amateur
July 11 - 14, 2016 ~ Watertown Golf Club
NEVER SAY NEVER
B
oth Andrew Franz of Ridgefield
Golf Course and Matt Bornstein
of Silver Spring Country Club
began the 18-hole final of the
75th Connecticut Junior Amateur seeking
to win their first CSGA championship.
Franz, the #25 seed, knocked off the #4, #8
and #9 seeds on his way to the finals, while
Bornstein, the #6 seed, needed no more than
16 holes to win any of his first four matches.
After making the turn all-square,
Bornstein jumped out to his biggest lead
in the final match, capitalizing on Franz’s
bogies on the 11th and 12th holes to grab
a 2-up advantage with just six holes to play.
Needing to change the momentum, Franz
hit his approach on the par-4 13th to within
fifteen feet and had an opportunity to close
the gap.
“I got lucky on the approach and
only had ten or fifteen feet for birdie, and
wasn’t too happy that I three-putted to halve
the hole," said Franz. "But in my semifinal
match, I won five holes in a row to win, so I
knew anything could happen in match play.
I just tried to refocus after that and hit really
good iron shots on the next two par-3’s.”
After halving the 14th hole with
pars, Franz hit his approach on the par3 15th to eight feet from the hole. With
Bornstein thirty feet away after his tee shot,
it looked like Franz would be able to close
the gap. However, a made putt by Bornstein
and a miss by Franz left him three down
with three holes to play and a seemingly
insurmountable deficit.
“On the 16th tee, I just said to
myself, ‘just take one hole at a time and not
try to think about winning three holes in a
row',” said Franz. “I was just trying to get to
the next tee on every green.”
He did just that, proceeding to win
the 16th and 17th holes with par, and was
1-down standing in the 18th fairway. With
Bornstein on the green in regulation, Franz
stepped up and hit his approach to within
ten feet from the hole. Needing to make the
putt to extend the match, Franz calmly rolled
in his birdie to send the match to extra holes.
Both Franz and Bornstein birdied
the par-5 first hole and hit the green in
“
It’s pretty special.
I had an early tee
time on Monday and
shot 77, so there was
a point where I didn’t think I was
even going to get into the playoff
to make match play.
”
- Andrew Franz
regulation on the par-4 2nd. Bornstein,
facing a putt of nearly ninety feet, lagged
his first putt to within five feet from the
hole. After Franz nearly missed his birdie
putt, Bornstein faced a tricky sidehill putt
to extend the match, and was unable to
convert. A tap-in par was all that was needed
for Franz to secure his first Junior Amateur
Championship.
This marked Franz’s third time
playing in the Connecticut Junior Amateur
Championship, with 2016 being the first
time he successfully qualified for match play.
Originally from London, England, Franz
graduated from high school this past spring.
He is taking a year off before attending
Bucknell University in the fall of 2017.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Andrew Franz tees off on the 16th hole during the final match in what
would begin an improbable comeback; Matt Bornstein used his precise iron play to win three of
the first six holes on the back nine; A clutch putt on the 18th hole for Franz carried the match to
extra holes.
2016 ANNUAL / CONNECTICUT STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION / 29