Bruce Berlet was the pulse beat of Connecticut’s golf community as he chronicled the sport for all of the 38 years he worked at the Hartford Courant. Few reporters immerse themselves in their beat the way Berlet did with golf on the state and national scenes. He did it because he loved it. His passion for the game and for those who play it was evident in his writing. Because his work informed state golfers and enhanced their enjoyment of the game for so long, he belongs in the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame. Berlet, 61, covered the Greater Hartford Open 39 times as it changed names and courses. He filed stories from 30 Masters, 15 U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and three Ryder Cup matches. More importantly, perhaps, he wrote stories about the people who play the game at the state and regional level. He stood just off the green as the final putts were struck at hundreds of CSGA, Connecticut Section PGA, Connecticut Women’s Golf Association and Southern New England Women’s Golf Association championships. Over time, Berlet became the ultimate insider as scores of players he wrote about became his friends.
‘I’m particularly honored by this because of my affiliation with the CSGA, which goes back to the 1960s when I received a Widdy Neale Scholarship,’ Berlet said.
Berlet also covered the Hartford Whalers and Wolf Pack hockey teams, UConn men’s and women’s basketball, Yale football and various other sports. He has written articles for Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Golf World, the New England Journal of Golf and other publications. He was co-host, with Bob Samek, of Connecticut Golfer on Radio for eight years. He has helped promote several charity golf tournaments and served on the Hall of Fame selection committee for 15 years. He was a golfer with a single-digit handicap for many years.
