Norwich — The final four championship flight golfers still standing at the 93rd Norwich Invitational have some things in common.

Three of the four semifinalists are former champions.

Three survivors played their college golf at UConn, but at different times.

Two golfers are members of Norwich Golf Course, the host of the amateur tournament.

And they all survived brutal heat and humidity that made one competitor "feel like death" to advance to Sunday morning's semifinal matches.

Defending champion and Norwich Golf Course member Chris DeLucia meets fellow UConn graduate and 2016 champion Nick Harrington in one semifinal, teeing off at 9:01 a.m.

Josh Cameron, the 2017 champion and Norwich member, faces former UConn golfer Sean Vigue in the other semifinal, starting at 8:54 a.m.

Semifinal winners play for the championship in the afternoon, with a projected 2:15 p.m. starting time.

"All the guys left are really good," Harrington said. "Every guy left will be tough. You're not going to play bad and win."

The path to the semifinal was challenging for all four. They all seized control on the back nine and closed out their quarterfinal matches before the final hole.

Complicating matters was the punishing, energy-depleting weather.

The morning air was stuffy and dead before a slight breeze kicked up in the afternoon but provided no relief. A towel might have been the most used item in the golf bag. Two players were forced to drop out due to heat-related issues.

"In the champ flight, you're going to pretty much hit tough people every match," Cameron said. "I'm just happy to move on. It's definitely exhausting. The heat doesn't help."

In the marquee match of the day, Cameron knocked off five-time champion Steve Gambeski, 4 and 2, in the quarterfinals. He found his groove in the afternoon after a tough morning match against Eric Bukowski, winning 3 and 2.

Cameron finished off Gambeski by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16.

"I had a good match with Steve," Cameron said. "He really pushed me to the limit. We all know what he's capable of. He's a five-time champ, so it's nice to be able to beat him. I played well. I had one bad hole. Luckily, it didn't matter."

Cameron got a sneak peak of semifinal foe Vigue on Saturday and expects a difficult match. Vigue defeated top-seed Austin Cilley, 3 and 1, in the quarterfinals.

"We played behind him and I watched him," Cameron said. "He looks like a great player, so it should be fun. It should be more of the same. I know I see his name every year in the champ flight, so he knows what he's doing."

DeLucia is attempting to become the first golfer to defend his Norwich Invite title since Dan Hendrickson accomplished the feat by winning in 2013 and 2014. He rolled past Jack Sullivan, 6 and 5, in the round of 16 before beating Corey Jones, 4 and 2, in the quarterfinals.

His semifinal opponent is Harrington, a former all-state golfer out of Parish Hill where he was a two-time Division IV individual state champ. He lost in the first round of the Norwich Invitational the past two years.

Harrington breezed through his morning match, downing Brett Shulick, 7 and 6, and then ran into Todd Lavoie, a Norwich member intent on avenging a loss three years ago in an epic semifinal match that lasted 21 holes.

Lavoie wasn't easy to shake.

They were both three-under through nine and all-square.

Then Harrington got hot, winning 10, 12 and 14. He racked up six birdies overall to win 3 and 2.

"He knows this course and knows his game, so he's really hard to beat," Harrington said. "I knew he would be a tough match today. He was two or three under, so it took a lot of birdies to get him today."

The Norwich Invitational is a good test drive for Harrington who's preparing to play in the U.S. Amateur next month.

"It's really good practice," Harrington said. "You get more nerves in match play than strokes. You get that practice to go head-to-head. I feel like I'm playing really well right now. I think I made one bogey in the past two days, so my game feels good. I'll just try to roll in some more putts tomorrow. That's what it is all about now."

Harrington and DeLucia last met in the Norwich Invite about seven years ago. Harrington was 15 at the time and appearing in his first championship flight. DeLucia emerged with the win in the second round.

He's looking forward to playing another "UConn guy."

"He's a super steady guy," Harrington said. "When I was younger, we had very similar games. I haven't played with him in a while. So I don't know how we would stack up now."

g.keefe@theday.com