The Second Battle of East Brunswick

A 15-foot par putt sealed a 1-up victory for Casey Clark over arch rival Tom Garda at the difficult and rain-drenched Tamarack West golf course Friday. The match added another chapter to the emerging rivalry between the two Middlesex County golfers, with echoes of the famous Nicklaus-Watson rivalry of the 1970s.

“I kept telling him: ‘Tom, I’m hitting the ball well today,’” said Clark, who shot an 85 after playing even par through the first three holes. “In a way, I’m surprised he hung in there. But then again, these matches are always hard fought.”

Down two holes to start the back nine, Garda stood on the tenth tee box and declared that the back nine belonged to him and him alone. He scored pars on 10 and 11, while Clark – perhaps rattled by the gamesmanship – squandered his lead with consecutive three putts.

A dramatic turn of events struck at the short par-five 12th, where Garda scrambled for par with a long chip in. Clark answered with a snaking 20-foot birdie putt of his own, to recapture the lead. Had there been a gallery, it would have roared with approval.

Ironically, it was Garda who seemed to draw more inspiration from the heroics at the 12th. He steadily won two of the next three holes on the stretch of Tamarack West known collectively as “Amen Corner,” a stretch over which Clark carded two sloppy, double bogeys.

“At that point I felt like I had control of the match,” said Garda. “I believed I had seen the moment of his greatness flicker.”

Things looked even better for Garda standing in the fairway on the short par-4 16th. He was a mere 100 yards from the green, and Clark – inexplicably and ridiculously – was languishing somewhere in the trees on the right. But Garda’s putter failed him, allowing Clark to push the hole with a bogey and head to the historic par-5 17th down one, but with new life.

The drama of the match was magnified by the history of the 17th hole, where so many previous matches were decided by glory or tragedy. In the back of both players’ minds was the punishing pond that guards the green like a fortress. On this day, it was tragedy that would decide the outcome in Clark’s favor, as Garda’s wedge from the left rough found the water hazard.

It was here, as both players walked all-square to the tee box of the long and treacherous 18th hole, that the shadows of Nicklaus and Watson seemed most vividly to play against the setting sun and the lush vegetation of Tamarack West.

At the 435-yard 18th, Clark’s hand-crafted persimmon driver launched his drive left, but safe; while Garda’s oversized titanium drive landed deep in the left woods. Eventually, Clark sank his 15-footer for par and the match. With history and a group of Koreans finishing up on Tamarack East as their only witnesses, Clark and Garda exchanged friendly words and shook hands.

“That was one of the best, if not the best, match I ever played,” said Garda.