Welch overcomes elements for fourth Tri-County title

Voorheesville

The second Sunday in May has its traditions. Flowers for Mother's Day (lilies and tulips are nice), and challenging weather for the Tri-County Golf Association Match Play Championship (rain and cold are in bloom).

Often the Tri-County final is as much about enduring the elements as it is challenging the Colonie Golf and Country Club layout, and the 39th renewal of the Match Play on Sunday afternoon was another case in point.

Jim Welch, a 48-year-old from Valatie who plays out of Olde Kinderhook, perservered through a steady ran and tempatures in the mid-40s for a 3-and-1 victory over Chad Stoffer of the Town of Colonie to win his fourth Tri-County title.

"It would have been nice to play in 80 degrees and both being playing real well, playing with a good friend, Chad, and have a fun, competitive match," Welch said, "but it was more just a grind on who could survive."

By the time Welch closed out the match on the 16th hole, the golfers had combined for just one birdie — a 11-footer on No. 10 that gave the eventual winner his first two-hole lead.

Both players found the length of their drives shrinking as the round progressed. Neither reached the green on 445-yard par-4 14, Stoffer landing 20 yards short and Welch nearly 100.

"It was more of a struggle getting through the ball," said Stoffer, 47, a two-time winner. "The colder and wetter it got, the turn got a little shorter, the acceleration through the ball decreased. It came down to getting up-and-down, and Jimmy did that a little more successfully than I did."

Welch, the qualifying medalist who never trailed in the final, unseated reigning and six-time champion Dan Russo of Schulyer Meadows 2 and 1 Sunday morning in the semifinals.

Under drier conditions in the morning, Welch said he reached the green...