Bruce Berlet, who covered the Whalers, UConn women’s basketball and, most notably, golf at all levels during a 38-year career at The Courant, has died. He was 77.
Berlet, born in Baltimore, grew up in Litchfield, playing on basketball and soccer state championship teams at Litchfield High before attending UConn. After graduating college, he joined The Courant in 1970, and soon covered the New England Whalers of the WHA, and stayed on the hockey beat when they moved to the NHL in 1979. Later, he was one of the first writers dedicated full-time to women’s basketball, covering the Huskies’ first championship team in 1995 during his six years on that beat.
However, Berlet, an outstanding golfer, was best known for bringing his technical expertise, encyclopedic knowledge of its history and gregarious personality to writing about the game. He was a fixture at state amateur and pro events, especially the PGA Tour stop, the Greater Hartford Open, which has since become The Travelers Championship.
Berlet worked the event 50 years in a row before COVID 19 limited credentials and forced the end of his streak. But he eventually returned to the TPC River Highlands, and during his career covered 33 Masters, 15 U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, three Ryder Cup matches. He once played six holes with Arnold Palmer, interviewed Tigers Woods as a teenager, and and talked to virtually every standout golfer of the 20th and 21st centuries.
After leaving The Courant in 2008, Berlet continued to cover golf in the state for various outlets, most recently he wrote about the CSGA State Open championship during the summer.
He won dozens of state, regional and national sports journalism awards. His feature on John Daly for The Courant won top honors from the Golf Writers Association of America. Berlet was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.
“His passion for the game and for those who play it was evident in his writing” reads Berlet’s plaque at the Hall of Fame. “Because his work informed state golfers and enhanced their enjoyment of the game for so long, he belongs in the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.”
A longtime Glastonbury resident, Berlet leaves his wife of more than 50 years, Nancy, the first female sports writer for The Courant, his daughter, Brooke, and grandson, Ryan.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bruce’s memory to The First Tee of Connecticut at 55 Golf Club Road in Cromwell, Conn., 06416 or at donatenow.org/firstteect. Also the Connecticut State Golf Association, 35 Cold Spring Road, Suite 212, Rocky Hill, 06067, or Turning Point USA at 4940 East Beverly Road, Phoenix, 85044 or donate/tpusa.com.
Calling hours are Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. at the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Road, Wethersfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday in St. Paul Church of Ss. Isidore and Maria Parish, 2577 Main St., Glastonbury, followed by a private burial.
