Saladino beats Waugh for LI Amateur

Distance is a relative term in golf. It means more than just how far a ball flies. The word also implies fortitude, as in "going the distance," which is what Joe Saladino knows how to do. He proved it again Friday by withstanding a long hitter and a long day to win the Long Island Amateur.

Saladino, 31, the defending Metropolitan Player of the Year, added to his list of achievements by beating power hitting 16-year-old Clancy Waugh, 2 and 1, in a compelling, draining 36-hole final Friday at Tam O'Shanter Club in Brookville.

Waugh cut a five-hole deficit to one late in the afternoon round, but Saladino continued his weeklong pattern of making just the right shot at just the right moment. His experience helped him hold on for his second L.I. Amateur in five years.

Plus, he proved he still can hit it out there with the young guys.

The champion blasted his drive 340 yards on the par-5 16th hole, drew an 8-iron shot 175 yards over water and around trees and landed the ball 6 feet from the hole -- after Waugh had reached the front of the green in two. He made the eagle putt to go 2-up, then closed the match with a 3-foot par putt on No. 17.

Saladino is a long way from having any silver in his hair, but he keeps increasing the silver in his trophy case. "I think experience helps a little bit, especially on a long day," he said.

"Before each match, you kind of feel anxious to get out there and play. Having done it a lot, you know that that's the normal feeling," said the golfer who last year reached match play in the U.S. Amateur and the round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur. "You have to stay in your routine and when you get a few up, not try and get too far ahead."

He learned about Waugh, whom he never had met. "I give him a lot of credit," Saladino said. "At that age, to be 5 down with not a ton of holes left, you know, some people might just check out a little bit. But it really just fired him up."

The son of Seth Waugh, chief executive of Deutsche Bank America and majority owner of the Long Island Ducks, said, "I needed birdies to make a comeback because I knew he wasn't going to just give it to me."

The teen learned this: "I know that I'm good enough to win any of these events."

But the savvy hand was good enough to win this one.