By Kim J. Harmon

DANBURY – When Mike Rostafin hooked his tee-shot on the par-3, 10th hole at Ridgewood Country Club – his starting hole – in the South-West Conference golf tournament, it did not seem like a good sign at all.

When he hooked his tee-shot left on the par-4, 13th hole and then struck his approach dead center into the tree in front of him, it did not seem like a good sign at all.

But Rostafin, the senior captain of Newtown, recovered quite nicely from his poor start to card an 85 and finish tied for third with Alex Monteiro of Immaculate and Ryan Kelleher of Bethel – just six shots off the pace set by Chris Voie of Weston, who won the tournament with a 7-over-par 72.

As a team, Newtown (7-7 during the regular season) tied for fourth with Immaculate and Joel Barlow, all with 373 strokes. Weston finished first at 337, Pomperaug was second at 345, and Bethel was third at 349.

With the Ridgewood Country Club course still in pristine condition following a weekend member-member tournament, it looked as if many of the SWC golfers were going to have a little bit of trouble – especially those who had to start off the 10th, a short par 3 that is guarded in front by bunkers and on the left and over the back by water.

It was not an ideal starting hole, by any means. It was tough enough for the golfers to contend with the tight fairways, the tough layouts, and the fast greens.

For Newtown, Mike Troy came in with a 93 while Joe Ziemann finished at 97 and Mark Werbeck at 98. Taylor Gunn carded an even 100.

It has been an up and down season for the Nighthawks, who began the 2000 campaign with four consecutive victories and seemed ready to remain among the elite of the SWC. But the ‘Hawks quickly fell into a four-match losing streak which evened things out.

Then they needed one win in their final three matches to qualify for the team playoffs and narrowly earned that with a fine 162-167 win over Bunnell at the Newtown Country Club.

Team Results

1. Weston 337; 2. Pomperaug 345; 3. Bethel 349; 4. (tie) Newtown, Immaculate, Joel Barlow 373; 7. New Milford 381; 8. Foran 396.

Individual Results

79 – Chris Voie, Weston.

83 – Pete Roman, Weston.

85 – Mike Rostafin, Newtown; Ryan Kelleher, Bethel; Alex Monteiro, Immaculate.

86 – Tyler Kupper, Weston; Ross Carrigan, Pomperaug; Zach Duncan, Pomperaug; Phil Schuler, Pomperaug; Chris O’Connor, Bethel.

87 – James Roberts, Pomperaug; Scott Nichols, Bethel.

88 – Mark McDonald, Joel Barlow.

89 – Chris Fuller, Weston.

91 – Alex Migel, Joel Barlow; Adam Leone, Bethel; Nick Riley, New Milford; Austin Lord, New Milford.

92 – Evan Fensterstock, Weston.

93 – Joe Arconti, Brookfield; Don Cerrette, Foran; Mike Troy, Newtown.

94 – Jesse Come, Joel Barlow; Chris DeGeorge, Pomperaug; Sean Mackay, Immaculate; Brendan Spain, Bethel.

95 – Chris Catropa, Bethel.

96 – Steve Robbins, Immaculate.

97 – Rich O’Leary, Brookfield; Joe Ziemann, Newtown, Scott Stevens, Joel Barlow.

98 – Mike Levine, Immaculate; Mark Werbeck, Newtown.

99 – Kyle Brennan, Foran.

100 – Tom Amalfitano, Immaculate; Taylor Gunn, Newtown.

101 – Greg Petzold, Foran.

102 – Gary Preston, Bunnelll Andy Krebs, New Milford; Nick Grembazzi, New Milford.

103 – Drew Sudbury, Joel Barlow; Mike Amendola, Foran.

104 – Dan Mark, Foran.

109 – Josh Richter, New Milford.