Northport's Padruig Douglas wins Suffolk individual golf championship

Padruig Douglas sank his putt on the 18th hole and pumped his fist, just about certain he had earned the trophy.

The Northport junior shot a 5-over-par 77 on Tuesday at Smithtown Landing to earn the Suffolk individual title. Douglas shot a 73 on day one to give him a total score of 150. West Babylon’s Tyler Clark finished second with a score of 151, last year’s champion James Bradley of East Hampton and Jack Breutsch of Center Moriches finished tied for third with a 153.

"I just had a feeling we would’ve heard if someone was playing out of their minds," Douglas said. "I didn’t know for sure, but I definitely thought I had the win."

Douglas took a two-stroke lead into the back nine and extended it by a stroke on the 10th hole. Clark stormed back to tie things up, cutting a stroke off the lead on the 11th, 13th, and 14th holes. Douglas regained a one-stroke lead after shooting par on the 16th, setting up dramatic finish on the final hole.

Clark stepped up to putt with a chance for birdie, but his shot was long. His next putt rolled off the edge of the hole and allowed Douglas to putt for bogey and secure the victory.

"When I missed par, I thought we were going to a playoff." Douglas said. "He put a good stroke on it, it just fell off."

This victory was something Douglas thought about for a while. After failing to make all-county last season, he was determined to win it all this time around.

"A freshman [Bradley] won counties, and I didn’t even make all-county last year, I used that as motivation."

Harborfields' A.J. Danik (156) finished in fifth. Ward Melville’s Gavin Gerrard, West Islip’s Quinn Reilly, and Westhampton’s Owen Jessup tied for sixth with a 157.

Gerrard paced Ward Melville, which won the Suffolk team championship. The team composed of Gerrard, Shane Fuchs, Matt Rotoli, Mike Petraco, Nick Stoecker and Nolan Woods totaled 801 in two days. East Hampton/Bridgehampton placed second with a score of 826.