Bob Murphy Jr. with his trophy for winning the Connecticut Senior Amateur
Bob Murphy Jr.’s 2025 Connecticut Senior Amateur victory occurred as a super senior – a Connecticut State Golf Association competitive classification for those age 65 and over (he is 66). This achievement is not his most notable, however. Winning 20 club championships at Brownson Country Club in Huntington, Connecticut, in five different decades merits that distinction.
Now that is super.
The latest club title occurred in September – 45 years after his first one in 1980 when he was a member of the St. Bonaventure University golf team.
“It’s probably due to good genes and equipment improvements,” said Murphy, who is no relation to the former U.S. Amateur and NCAA champion Bob Murphy, who also won five times on the PGA Tour and 11 times on PGA Tour Champions. “I feel like I’ve been able to get better with time – and smarter.
“I grew up at Brownson and have never wanted to leave. Our greens taught me how to read, to play on and to succeed on any other putting surface. The members taught me how to treat others with respect.”
Murphy not only respects the traditions of golf, which were set and followed early as a player at Fairfield College Preparatory School, but also treasures them. “I love the challenge; no two shots are alike,” he said. “I love the game, how it is played with respect and by the rules, the people and the personalities.”
His favorite golfer is Bobby Jones. “He’s the greatest amateur of all time,” Murphy said. “I can identify with him more as an amateur than a pro. I’m so glad I never had to make a 4-footer to make a mortgage payment. Not every golfer is wired to be a pro.”
Murphy is tailored for the amateur game. Consider his performance in two annual events: the Julius Boros Challenge Cup, a competition between Connecticut Section PGA pros and CSGA amateurs, and the Tri-State Matches between amateurs from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
“He has played in five Challenge Cup teams and three Tri-State teams, counting this year,” CSGA Challenge Cup and Tri-State captain Roger Everin said of Murphy. “Every team he has been on has won. I cannot think of any other player who has achieved that in my nine years as captain.”
Murphy just misses an eagle chip on his final hole.
Murphy always has enjoyed and been fueled by competition, whether as a team member or an individual. At last month’s Connecticut Senior Amateur at Wallingford Country Club, he trailed by three strokes before the final round. He never retreated in the event with the age requirement of 55 and over.
He rebounded from a 4-over 39 front nine to be even par through eight holes on his final nine. “There were no leaderboards, but I knew it was close,” he said.
Because he had started his round at No. 18 in the tournament’s shotgun start, his final hole was No. 17, a 320-yard par-4. He said he immediately liked the hole after playing it in an earlier practice round.
Players in the field had two basic driving strategies: hit less than driver to put the ball safely in the fairway for a short iron to the green or use driver to get it as close to the green or maybe even reach it – as Murphy had done in his practice round.
This was an easy decision that final day. “There’s a crest in the fairway, and then it goes downhill; I had a good feeling about the hole,” he said.
He drove the ball 33 yards short of the green.
“I had a downhill pitch, a little nerve-wracker, over a bunker. As soon as I hit the chip, it felt right. It bounced 3 feet on the green, and then I thought it was in, but it stayed out.”
He winced and clenched his fists at his eagle miss.
Playing partner Brian Hedstrom missed his 7-foot birdie putt. Murphy made his 2-foot birdie to finish at 145 (71-74), one shot ahead of Hedstrom from Indian Hill Country Club (Newington, Connecticut) and Scott D. Mackesy from Bulls Bridge Golf Club (Kent, Connecticut).
“I’m proud to win this as it being the 80th Connecticut Senior Amateur,” Murphy said. “There’s some level of validation, and it’s a great thing winning.”
This title meant a little more to Murphy, who couldn’t defend his 2023 championship last year because of his day job as a realtor in southwest Florida. He has split time between residences in Bonita Springs, Florida, and Shelton, Connecticut, for the past 18 years.
He said he wasn’t able to play in as many CSGA events as he would have liked to for a lot of years because of his director of sales position for a major computer firm in New York City and family responsibilities with his wife, Colleen, and five children.
Today Murphy says he tries to play in as many CSGA, Metropolitan Golf Association and Florida State Golf Association tournaments as he can. And, of course, there is an event that he won’t miss – the Brownson Country Club championship.
“I’ve never viewed golf as work,” he said. “From my first days at Brownson, it’s a game I’ve loved. And if there are trophies or recognition for what you do as an amateur, well, that’s enough for me.”
Photos: Courtesy Connecticut State Golf Association
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