Ledyard High, despite obstacles, will play on
A ny high school athletic director has to be part administrator, part magician. They're experts at finding a way to get things done. No matter the obstacles. In his job as Ledyard High School athletic director, Jim Buonocore is often called upon to work his magic.
Buonocore figured out how to keep his annual Ledyard High School Athletics Golf Tournament from disappearing from the summer schedule when so many other charity tournaments are either moving to the fall or cancelling their events.
The event will tee off Monday, July 6, at Lake of Isles in North Stonington.
"We're lucky," Buonocore said. "We're going to move forward with it. We obviously had a lot of concern over the last couple of months in regards to being able to hold our tournament. It's a tradition. We're going on 12 years now. We waited all the way until
June 1st to make a final decision."
Buonocore was able to pull it off thanks to Chris Campbell and Justin Carter, the general manager and manager of group sales, respectively, at Lake of Isles.
"They've been super to work with," Buonocore said. "They've always been supportive of Ledyard High School and our athletic program."
The tournament will follow all the safety guidelines in place for social distancing. Every golfer will have their own cart. They'll wear masks.
"Those guidelines may change as we get closer to July 6, for the better," Buonocore said. "But we felt under the current guidelines we could hold a modified tournament."
There will be no gift bags, dinner, raffle or silent auction this year. There will be fewer golfers due to restrictions. Entry fee dropped from $150 to $100.
So the tourney, which is the athletic department's primary fundraiser every year, will take a financial hit.
It usually generates about $15,000 for the athletic department. The funds are used for things like uniforms, equipment and supplies.
"We're not going to raise anywhere close to what we typically do," Buonocore said. "But we felt even doing it at a minimum would still be a benefit to our student-athletes with the money that we would raise. We felt it was critical for our athletic department to continue this tradition on, financially as well as keeping our normal participants interested." It is still as popular as ever. The first shotgun time at 8:30 a.m. on the South Course took about 90 minutes to sell out. Buonocore arranged for a second wave, starting at 11:30 a.m. on the North Course.
Some openings still exist for the second tee time. For more information, contact Buonocore at jbuonocore@ledyard.net.
The tournament also will serve as a good morale booster considering what's going on with the coronavirus crisis.
It's become a Ledyard High School family reunion.
Only the handshakes and hugs and post-golf social time will be missing this year.
"They're just so happy that we're continuing it," Buonocore said. "They're happy that they get to be a part of it. They're looking forward to returning. We'll do a lot of different games out on the course to try to keep it interesting and try to raise some more bucks for the program.
"It's the same groups year in and year out. I feel like we owe it to them as well to give them an opportunity to head out there. It has become more than a fundraiser."
Short putts
• Want to get to know your golf pro better?
Well, we will be highlighting our local pros this summer, starting with Mike Svab who's worked at Norwich Golf Course since 2012. We hope you enjoy it. • Registration opened up on Monday for the 94th Norwich Invitational, the area's marquee amateur event.
Don't wait too long to sign up if you want to play in the popular tournament that runs July 17-19.
"Everything is on schedule for the Invite," Svab said. "The sign-ups are going very quickly. We already have about 10 foursomes booked. We think we will be full this year just because of where golf is right now . ... Everyone is dying to be part of something right now and get out of the house for a few days."
There will be some changes to meet current safety guidelines. No spectator carts for the weekend rounds. No caddies allowed. And no steak dinner inside the Caddy Shack Restaurant after the qualifying round, but other options are being considered.
Guidelines might not be as strict by the time the tournament rolls around.
"We're holding out hope that maybe things will loosen up a little bit," Svab said.
• Bill Hermanson, who's from East Lyme and belongs to Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, didn't take long to shake off the tournament rust. He won the Siderowf Senior Division by three strokes in the Connecticut State Golf Association One Day tournament event last week at Wethersfield Country Club. He finished with a 5-under 66.
Dave Jones of Mohegan Sun Country Club tied for sixth at 2-over 73.
Upcoming events
• On Thursday, Great Neck Country Club in Waterford will host the third of three qualifiers for the Connecticut Amateur Championship. In the first qualifier last week at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford, Jackson Fretty of Greenwich was the medalist with a 2-over 74. He was one of 12 golfers in the 68-player field to earn a spot in the state amateur.
The Connecticut Amateur will be held June 22-26 at Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk.
• Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton is running its member-member event on June 20-21.
• Stonington Country Club is hosting a CSGA One Day tournament on Aug. 13. Registration is open until July 31. g.keefe@theday.com