Stonington — Three club champions were crowned on Sunday at two different golf courses located two miles apart.

The winners — Eric Briggs and Anne-Marie van der Velde at Stonington Country Club and James Lathrop II at Pequot Golf Club — share several things in common.

They all added to their club championship totals.

They all can trace their love of the game back to family members.

And they wouldn't miss their respective club championships.

Let's start with the match of the day.

It took one extra hole to decide a dramatic Stonington women's club championship match.

With her mother, Patty, a former champion, serving as caddy, Anne-Marie rallied from two down with four holes to go against three-time champion Jeanne Tingo and then won the first playoff hole to end the match.

After winning No. 18 to even the match, van der Velde completed the comeback by hitting three well-executed shots on No. 1, leaving her within 10 feet of the pin. Tingo struggled and couldn't match her opponent.

It is van der velde's fourth straight title.

"It made it even more special," van der Velde said.

Trailing by two, van der Velde made a late charge to catch Tingo. She won the 15th hole to cut the deficit to one and then took take advantage of a mistake to capture No. 18.

"She outplayed me today," van der Velde said. "She opened the door back on 18 and that was it."

Van der Velde had confidence and momentum on her side entering the sudden death playoff. She had opened the 18-hole match by winning the first hole.

"A ton of adrenaline kicked back in," van der Velde said. "She is such a solid player. I just tried to play my hardest."

It also was a family affair for Briggs in the men's club championship.

Briggs, who's from Glastonbury, dedicated his second straight club championship title to 89-year-old grandfather, Joe Vuono who watched the match along with Eric's father, Walt. All three are members.

He defeated Michael Hawley, a five-time champion, 9 and 8, in the scheduled 36-hole match.

"He's still playing," Eric said of his grandfather. "You really savor the moments that you can get with him out here on the golf course."

Eric's path to the Championship Sunday was difficult. On Saturday, he knocked off former champion Diederick van der Velde in the quarterfinals and then Nick DeLauro, his opponent in last year's final, in the semifinals.

Hawley is a friend and frequent playing partner, but they had never met in the men's club final.

"I had some really good competition this year," Briggs said. "Diederick van der Velde beat me two times previously in the final. I got him in the quarterfinals and got past him. I play a lot of golf with Michael Hawley. It was nice to play against him today. I was fortunate to play pretty well."

In the championship match's first round, Briggs set the tone early, building a 4-up lead through 10 holes and putting pressure on Hawley.

Hawley made a brief charge, racking up two birdies to cut the deficit to two. But the day belonged to Briggs, who carried a 5-up lead into the second round and extended the edge to seven by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 7.

"I knew at that point I needed to just hit a few good shots coming in and it was going to be hard to lose," said Briggs who closed out the match on No. 10.

At Pequot Golf Club, Lathrop added to the family victory total with his eighth title, including five of the last six. His father, James, captured three championship.

"It's nice to come back to the course where I learned to play golf and still be able to compete here," said Lathrop, who's from North Stonington. "It's just like coming home. ... It's where my father taught me how to play. So coming back here to compete again still means something to me."

Lathrop played steady golf through the three rounds of stroke play, firing rounds of 72, 73 and 73 for a total of 218. He beat runnerup Anthony Davison by five strokes.

Entering Sunday's final round, Lathrop and Davison were locked in a tie and had left the rest of the field in the dust.

The round got off to a promising start for Lathrop, who chipped in for a birdie to win the first hole.

Lathrop eventually turned a three-stroke lead through nine into five on the 10th hole when Davison stumbled with a triple bogey.

"At the beginning of the back nine, I tried to play conservatively and not make too many mistakes," Lathrop said. "I managed the course well."

g.keefe@theday.com