Mike Serio remained calm and composed after sinking a challenging 25-foot putt on the 14th hole that basically clinched the Shennecossett Golf Course men’s club championship on Sunday.

He only briefly raised a fist to celebrate.

“It was like electricity,” Serio said about the feeling. “You’ve got to fight it off a little bit because you know you’ve got to keep playing.”

The clutch putt allowed Serio to halve the hole with Dylan Grant and maintain a 3-up lead with four holes to go. He recovered from hitting his tee shot into the rough.

Serio won the next hole on the steamy hot day to finish off Grant and capture his first Shennecossett club championship.

A member for two years, Serio, who lives in Madison, has been playing golf at Shennecossett for years.

“I’ve always loved playing here,” Serio said. “There’s something about when you hit irons off the turf. The greens are always great. It’s an incredible value. I just love the place. It’s an old-school play. It feels like you’re playing in Scotland.”

Now Serio, who’ll turn 64 next month, has another reason to love Shennecossett.

As someone who appreciates the history of the course, it means a great deal to Serio to have his name on the board featuring men’s club champions that dates back to the early 1930s.

“It’s huge,” Serio said. “This place has just a ton of history. One of the things that I really respect here and appreciate is they kept the boards up from the 1900s. I think the first one on the board is 1931. Other places don’t keep their boards up to date and don’t realize what it means to amateur players to get your name on that board.

“And the names that are on that board are all incredible golfers. So, to get your name up there with those players, it means a lot, especially when you work at it, put hours into it and make a lot of sacrifices. Just to get out there and execute and bring it home is just a tremendous feeling.”

It was a tough road to the top.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Serio knocked off defending champion Steve Chevalier, 1-up, closing out the tight match on the final hole by sinking a 20-foot putt.

“We had a great match,” said Serio, who reached the semifinals last year in his first men’s club championship competition at Shennecossett.

In the scheduled 36-hole championship on Sunday, Serio rode a hot putter to take a 5-up lead through the first 18 holes. But Grant wouldn’t go away, cutting the gap to two before making the turn in the afternoon round.

“Then you start getting a little nervous because you don’t want to blow a 5-up lead,” Serio said.

That was as close as Grant would get.

Grant’s tee shot on the par 3 15th hole sailed into the hazard on the right side, leaving him in nearly an impossible spot to try to win the hole. He never recovered.

In other club championship competitions, Jim Clabby won the A Flight and Art Trammell repeated as B Flight champion.

Hewitt repeats as women’s champion

Jessica Hewitt of Groton defended her women’s club title by defeating Kim Capizzano, 4 and 2. It’s her third championship win overall.

“What a day!” Hewitt said.

Hewitt and Capizzano are good friends and regular playing partners.

“We play every weekend together, so it’s not like we don’t know each other’s game,” said Capizzano, who won the women’s title in 2016. “It was fun.”

The medalist in qualifying, Hewitt seized an early lead in the 18-hole match, taking a 3-up edge into the back nine. Capizzano won No. 10 to cut the gap.

But Hewitt captured the 12th hole to push the lead back to 3-up.

“It was a nice cushion,” Hewitt said. “I was relying on my putter. I got up and down on my first three holes, which was nice, so I knew I could rely on that later in the game.”

With multiple club championship titles to her credit, Hewitt has joined some elite company.

“It means more every time,” Hewitt said. “You go in the pro shop and see the (championship) boards, there’s multiple time winners for the ladies all the way back. The history of this course, it’s special. I’m going to get emotional.”

Short putts

• Great Neck Country Club in Waterford has had its share of hole-in-one celebrations this golf season. Five of the six happened on the par 3, 14th hole.

Distance from the tee can range anywhere from 120 to 160 yards.

“That’s our No. 1 hole for hole-in-ones,” club pro Kevin Shea said. “It is the shortest hole. It gives everyone a chance. It’s not that easy. If you hit a good shot, you’ll be rewarded. It’s all about the length.”

Rick Radicioni, Russ Shine, Tom Poblete, Andrew Zanghetti and Dan Horgan recorded aces on the 14th hole while Marco Frausini aced the seventh hole.

Lucky No. 14 also was the site of five of seven aces at the club in 2021.

Shea’s last ace came on that hole in 2019.

• At the halfway point of the Norwich Golf Course men’s club championship, Todd Lavoie resides atop the leaderboard at even-par 142 (70-72). He holds a three-shot lead over Steve Gambeski (73-72) and Chris DeLucia (71-74) through two rounds.

The final two rounds will be held Saturday and Sunday. The women’s club championship also will be decided this weekend.

• At the Black Hall Club in Old Lyme last weekend, champions were crowned in seven different flights in the club’s invitational. Winners were: Tom Dolan and David Ferrucci, First Flight; Brad Lipkvich and Jon Thanas, Second Flight; Justin McCarthy and Ken Sweitzer, Third Flight; Zachary and Joshua Back, Fourth Flight; Mike Spagnola and Todd Bovino, Fifth Flight; Chris and Chad Courtright, Sixth Flight; Dave Faenza and Alex Clark, Seventh Flight.

• Rob Tedoldi, Jr. of Connecticut National Golf Club in Putnam tied for eighth at the 37th Connecticut Public Links Championship that ended Tuesday at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron. He fired a two-round total of 2-over 146 (72-74). Dave Jones of Mohegan Golf Club tied for 16th at 149 (75-74) and James Lawler of Mohegan Golf Club tied for 24th at 152 (75-77).

• Last week in the 41st Senior Four-Ball Championship at Simsbury Farm Golf Course, Jones and Lawler posted a top five finish, tying for fifth at 4-under 68. Tony Susi of Mohegan Sun and Phil Perry of Black Hall also tied for fifth as did Bill Hermanson of Black Hall and Dave Szewczul of TP River Highlands.

Upcoming events

• The Norwich Golf Course’s annual senior invitational will tee off Thursday.

• Jeff and Chris DeLucia of Norwich, Austin Cilley of Lake of Isles, David Marshall of Quinnatisset, Bill Hermanson and Jim Ezold of Black Hall, Matt Fuller of Great Neck, Karl Saila and Robert Gebler of Elmridge, and Dave Jones and Tony Susi of Mohegan Golf Club will compete in the 82nd Four-Ball Championship on Thursday at Wallingford Country Club.

• Hermanson and Jay Dempsey of Shennecossett will be the only local golfers in the field for the 26th Super Senior Championship on Monday at Longshore Golf Club in Westport. Golfers must have reached their 65th birthdays by Monday.

• Corey Jones and Jessica Hewitt of Shennecossett will team up for the 85th Mixed Team Championship set for Tuesday at Watertown Golf Club. Dennis Medeiros and Lori Caracciolo will represent Quinnatisset Country Club.

• Fletcher Babcock of Danielson, Archie Cart of Old Saybrook, Austin Cilley and Michel Painchaud of Westerly, Ed Hilario of Willimantic, Philip Krick of Groton, Kevin Shea of Great Neck will compete in the Connecticut PGA Open, which will tee off Monday and Tuesday at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield.

• Men’s club championship competition begins Saturday, Aug. 20, at Black Hall Club. The final round is set for Sunday, Aug. 28.

• Qualifying for the Great Neck men’s club championship starts on August 20.

• Shennecossett will hold a member-member tournament on Aug. 20-21 The senior club championship event starts on Aug. 27 and ends on Sept. 4.

• The 35th Connecticut Mid-Amateur will take place on Aug. 23-24 at Country Club of New Canaan.

• Please send golf results, hole-in-one information, etc., to g.keefe@theday.com