Stratford, Connecticut (July 3, 2025) – Rick Malafronte has been close before. In 2020, he came to the final hole of the Connecticut Senior Amateur in the lead. He lost in a playoff. He has reached the semifinals and the quarterfinals of the Senior Match Play Championship but could never break through.
On Thursday morning at Mill River Country Club in the championship match of the 19th Senior Match Play Championship, Malafronte (New Haven CC) finally changed the narrative.
Facing 2022 champion Dave Jones (Mohegan Sun GC) in the final the two traded blows throughout an 18-hole title match that could have tipped in any direction.
Jones took an early 1-up lead with a win on the par-4 first, only to have Malafronte answer with a birdie on the par-5 second to tie the match. The early seesaw effect foreshadowed what was to come. A match that went the distance and only saw four holes tied.
“I knew if I didn’t play well, I was going to lose,” Rick Malafronte said. “So it was easy to stay focused.”
With the match tied after five holes, Malafronte was the first to create some real separation. The Connecticut Senior Four-Ball winner of a year ago took his first lead of the match with a par on No. 6 and then extended his advantage to 2-up with a birdie from 12 feet on No. 8.
Jones however would have an answer beginning with a birdie on No. 9 to trim the deficit to 1 down at the turn. A second consecutive birdie on the par-4 10th evened the match with eight holes remaining.
Following a tie on No. 11 thanks to a 20-footer for par by Jones and a tie on No. 12, the match moved to the par-4 13th even. With the trophy still up for grabs, Jones remained steady winning Nos. 13 and 14 with pars to take his largest lead of the day at 2-up.
With play heading down the stretch it felt as if Jones was in command of the match. In a blink, that all changed. Both players hit good drives on the downhill par-4 15th but Jones struggled with his second shot while Malafronte knocked his approach to 20 feet leading to a birdie that won him his first hole of the back nine. He was now just 1 down with three holes remaining.
On the ensuing par-4 16th Jones had a mishap on the greens and when Malafronte cleaned up for par the match was once again tied. A pair of pars on the No. 17 sent the match to the last even.
Playing first on the par-5 closing hole, Malafronte found the fairway while Jones missed to the left. Forced to punch out, Jones ran his second shot through the fairway and into some fescue 125 yards short of the green. With an opening Malafronte mishit his second shot and ended up in a bunker running through the center of the fairway.
With the match hanging in the balance, Jones made clean contact out of the fescue but caught it to clean as the ball hit on the green before bounding through the putting surface and onto the downslope of the fringe off the back of the green. Now it was Malafronte’s turn. With 97 yards remaining Malafronte struck it pure landing his third shot just 12 feet from the pin.
When Jones couldn’t get up and down for par, a cozied birdie putt by Malafronte led to a conceded par and the 65-year-old’s first CSGA major title.
“I’ve been playing in these for a long time and I have gotten close a couple times,” a smiling Malafronte said. “It’s nice to get to the finish line. I’m just grateful and happy that I got the chance to win.”
About the Connecticut State Golf Association
The Senior Match Play is one of 20 championships conducted by the Connecticut State Golf Association. The CSGA functions as an extension of the USGA and provides stewardship for amateur golf in Connecticut. Founded in 1899, it is the country’s oldest state golf association and conducts over 60 Championships, Qualifiers, and One Day Tournaments throughout the year.
