Norwich — Chris DeLucia has patiently waited for his Norwich Invitational championship moment.

As a seven-time Norwich Golf Course men's club champion, DeLucia tasted his share of success at his home course.

But a Norwich Invitational championship flight title always eluded him.

Until Sunday.

DeLucia finally earned his break-through victory, beating Bill Hermanson of East Lyme 4-and-3. He took the lead for good on the third hole and kept the pressure on his veteran opponent before closing out the match on No. 15.

His first title came in his first championship appearance in his 13 years playing in the Norwich Invite. He's been a fairly frequent visitor to the semifinals.

"This is awesome because it's hard to get here," DeLucia said. "So once you get here, you want to win. Then six times to come up short, you knew you had to wait a whole another year to get an opportunity."

Winning the Norwich Invite is extra special for DeLucia, a 29-year-old Norwich resident and Montville High School golf coach. The tournament is a tradition in his family, with his brother Jeff a regular.

Chris had a large cheering section on hand Sunday.

"If I had a dog here, my dog would have been rooting for me," said Hermanson, a two-time Norwich Invite champ, last winning in 1996. "Other than that, everybody was rooting for Chris. It was good to see him win. He deserved it."

Both competitors battled mental fatigue from a grueling three-day stretch of tournament golf. DeLucia remained steady in Sunday's final round, carrying a 2-up lead into the back nine. Hermanson, 61, then buried an a challenging uphill eight-foot bogey putt to win No. 10 and narrow the deficit.

But DeLucia never buckled, taking No. 11 and No. 12 with back-to-back pars. He won the 92nd Norwich Invite without registering a birdie.

"The pins today were extremely tricky so you had to hit it on the green," DeLucia said. "It was tough to make birdies. I got an early lead on Bill so I could hit a lot of greens and had to force him to hit some heroic shots."

Hermanson's erratic putter cost him.

"I missed so many short putts early that it was hard to keep any momentum going and Chris played solid," Hermanson said. "He played better than I did. I would have liked to have played a little better today. I was a little flat."

Nothing really pointed to DeLucia's going on a championship run when the tournament began Friday.

He barely made the cut for the championship flight, earning the No. 15 seed. Then he gained some momentum, beating defending champion Josh Cameron 2-and-1 in his match play opener on Saturday and rallying from a two-hole deficit with six to play to defeat Todd Lavoie in 19 holes in the quarterfinals.

On Sunday, DeLucia held off Rob Tedoldi 1-up in the semifinals to advance to the final. Hermanson, the 12th seed, dispatched James Lawler 6-and-5 in the semifinals.

His supporters broke into applause when DeLucia clinched the win on the 15th green. The low-key DeLucia shook hands with Hermanson and hugged pro Mike Svab.

"They knew how much I wanted it and they wanted it just as much," DeLucia said. "It's just awesome to have their support and them here, too."

Now DeLucia's name will be added to the Norwich Invitational championship plaque hanging in the clubhouse. Some of his friends already are in the elite club.

"I see it all the time," DeLucia said of the plaque. "I've invited my college roommates to come down to play who've won. I was just talking to Bret Siekierski today, the 2008 winner, he wished me good luck. I brought him down one year and he won it and Kyle O'Connor (2009).

"I was like, 'When's my turn?'"

DeLucia finally got his answer.

Standing near the 15th green after his victory, DeLucia paid tribute to Norwich assistant Jeffrey Doerr, who's recovering from a stroke suffered on Monday at the golf course.

"That definitely was extra motivation for me because he's been a good help to me," DeLucia said.

g.keefe@theday.com