CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATION

The 67-year-old has come excruciatingly close to capturing a CDGA-administered senior title before. There was the 2018 CDGA Senior Amateur at Itasca Country Club, falling to Brad Kay in the finale. Then, later that summer in the Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship at Riverside Golf Club; he lost in a playoff to senior stalwart Tim Sheppard. And just last September, again at Riverside, and again in a playoff for the Illinois State Senior title, he faltered to Scot Frankenreider.

"I thought to myself, `This isn`t going to happen again`," said Pecora. "I kind of just slowed down and I thought about a lot of the things that I did before and it all kind of stayed together with me. I didn`t lose it, which was good. It`s great - I can`t believe I won."

The pep talk indeed helped, as Pecora held on for the 5-and-3 victory to capture the Charles Morgan Auld Cup. It capped off an impressive week in which he earned medalist honors with a 1-under 71 in stroke-play qualifying on Monday and then proceeded to only trail for three holes during his four matches en route to the title.

In the Championship finale, Pecora got off to a solid start with a birdie on the first. A par win on the second upped the advantage to two. Werner, the 2017 CDGA Senior Amateur Championship victor and CDGA Senior Player of the Year, fought back with a win on the testy par-4 fifth hole. Pecora found his stride at the turn, however, with a birdie win on No. 8 before two more wins at Nos. 9 and 10.

Following the aforementioned bogey loss by Pecora on No. 11, the battling duo traded wins on Nos. 12 and 13. Back-to-back pars on Nos. 14 and 15 were enough to secure the win.

Pecora`s success can be attributed to two things. First, Charlie, a local Aurora caddie helped guide him around the tree-lined layout, with small but quick undulating greens. The assistance was so valuable, Pecora wasn`t even sure he would have made it out of Monday`s qualifying round without the looper.

"I don`t think I would have made the qualifier," confessed Pecora. "The greens were so hard to read, the speeds were so fast, that he was great. He led me around really good."

And then there`s the way Pecora spent his offseason. Normally a snowbird who flees to Florida in the colder months, Pecora stayed in Chicago District to care for his 102-year-old mother following a broken hip. The winter was spent working out "more than usual," before the golf hiatus was broken in April with sessions "hitting into a net."

The layoff paid dividends, as Pecora felt more energized at the beginning of the season. And his game improved, thus building confidence in his playing abilities against the field this week.

"I knew coming in, if I could play the way I`ve been playing, it would be hard for anybody to beat that because I know how well I`ve been hitting it," he said. "Usually, when you get in these things, you get nervous enough that you get off, a little fast, start hooking it. I didn`t do any of that this week and I`m really happy about that."

With a 68th birthday next week, that happiness - and a shiny trophy - will surely be one of the best gifts he receives.

The 2023 CDGA Championship schedule continues with the 103rd CDGA Amateur Championship at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, June 26-29.