Cavotta steps up for a leap of faith
Anthchezony (A.J.) Cavotta of Saratoga Springs is entering a new phase of competitive golf and the first step is a pre-qualifier Thursday for the Travelers’ Championship at Ellington Ridge in Connecticut.
The Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year who finished fourth in the NCAA Atlantic/ East Regional and qualified to compete in the Division II NCAAS will no longer play for Southern New Hampshire.
“I’ve achieved most of the things I wanted to do in college, I won Rookie of the Year last year and won Player of the Year this year. But as a player I’m not too happy with how I’ve been progressing,” Cavotta said. His new game plan includes finishing up his education degree online while working with coaches to improve his game. His swing coach is Anders Mattson.
After the Travelers, his schedule this summer includes a series of amateur events, including defending his title at the
Saratoga County Amateur Golf Championship.
He is developing a winter schedule of competition in Florida. Cavotta was the 2019-20 Times Union boys’ golf Athlete of the Year.
Cavotta also was named First Team All-conference. He played in 11 events this season, averaging a 73.61 across 23 total rounds. He finished in the top five on six occasions, submitted five top-three performances and captured two wins. His low round of 68 came at the Penmen Fall Invitational on Sept. 20.
He was selected to the Golf Coaches Association of America’s PING All-region team in both his freshmen and sophomore years.
“I just want to be playing against the best of the best and I know with my B and C game right now that’s not going to cut it,” he said. “I’m hoping one day I can have a game that’s good enough to compete on the highest level, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to get there.”
Cavotta tips his hat to his parents, Mike Cavotta, the former Shaker golf coach who was instrumental in starting girls’ golf in Section II. His mom, Karen Cavotta, is the girls’ coach at Saratoga Springs and the Suburban Council golf coor
dinator. Both are educators and part of the guidance they are providing their son was simple: buy a planner and make a schedule.
“They make it so it’s fun for me. They are very good at guiding me and saying okay if you want to do this we’ve got to take it a little bit more seriously. They aren’t making me do it but they are saying if I want to do it, they will be all in with me,” he said.
LIV tour must read
Rick Reilly’s opinion column on the Saudi LIV Tour, published by the Washington Post, includes some zingers:
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but pro golf is a triple bogey right now. It’s teetering on the edge of a disaster. His opinion piece is aptly titled: “The Saudi-backed golf rival for the PGA is a case of ‘LIV and let die.’ ”
Big win for Linn Grant
Swedish golfer Linn Grant made history as the first woman to win on the men’s European Tour (now known as the DP World Tour) beating out the field of men and women by nine strokes. The Scandinavian Mixed is a revolutionary format co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour in which 78 men and 78 women compete in a 72-hole
stroke play event. The tournament, held in Tylösand, Sweden, is hosted by Swedish legends Annika Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson and features two sets of tees but one combined purse of $2 million. More of this, please.
Results
In the 9th NYS Senior Amateur Mixed Team competition at Transit Valley Country Club on June 7, the senior division net champions were Marylee Pollard and Mike Farina of Ballston Spa. Pollard and Farina are repeat champions of the event. The format is Chapman Stroke Play, otherwise known as the “divorce open” for those who enter as a couple.
In the stroke play ringer event held at Van Schaick Island Country Club, Sue Kahler of Ballston Spa won overall low gross (35) and Cindi Keeler (Burden Lake) captured the overall low net title (27).