Gallo happy with decision to move on

ELLINGTON » It’s been several years since Kyle Gallo gave up his dream of trying to qualify for the PGA Tour, more than a decade after coming within a stroke of fulfilling that dream.

But now, at 42, and the head men’s golf coach at Central Connecticut State University, he said the decision was a simple one, one he has no regrets in making. The decision was made at the first round of the PGA Tour Qualifying School in Georgia. He fell short of advancing to the next round.

“I was hitting every green to 10 feet and missing every putt,” Gallo recalled. “It was beyond frustrating. I said, ‘Enough’s enough, I’m done.’ Simple, no regrets. It got to the point where for the first time, I looked at it as something I didn’t enjoy. I knew that was it. I wanted to get off the golf course.”

Gallo did make the cut for this year’s Connecticut Open last week and finished tied for 27th place at Ellington Ridge Country Club. It was at Ellington Ridge 19 years ago when Gallo, then an amateur, won his first Open title.

He’s won four all told, tied for most in state history with John Golden. His last title came in 2010 at CC of Fairfield.

“I’m at a point now where reflecting is a good thing,” Gallo said. “I enjoy playing golf now more than in the last six or seven years. That’s good for overall piece of mind. The selfishness is gone, I don’t bring golf home anymore.”

So now Gallo is providing wisdom to young kids with the same dreams he had. He can give them some very important life lessons and explain how close he really came to his ultimate dream.

“(Coaching) still keeps me somewhat relevant. Even though I don’t play a lot, I can help these kids grow into good, productive people in life. That’s the main objective now,” Gallo said.

In 2004, Gallo won his third Connecticut Open title at Mill River CC in a playoff. Later that year, he arrived at PGA Tour Q School and advanced to the final stage. There, he came up just one stroke short of securing his tour card after missing a makeable birdie putt on the final hole.

His performance gave him full status on the Nationwide Tour, but he ended up injuring his back that first year. Although he stayed a few years on that tour, he never came close again to getting to the PGA Tour.

“One shot, that’s hard to handle. I don’t think I’ve ever fully gotten over it. The moment presented itself. Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world never have that opportunity,” Gallo said.

So now he played in the Open with golfers half his age, pursuing that same dream he did for more than a decade. Now, he is married with a threemonth old, enough to keep him busy, along with a number of college-aged kids to look after.

Those who make it through the tour’s Q School only get access to the Web.Com (formerly Nationwide) Tour. Once there, you can work your way to the PGA Tour — or make good on the sponsor’s exemptions you receive when you first turn professional — if you’re lucky.

The biggest irony in Gallo’s near miss? The man he beat in that playoff in 2004, Madison native Brett Stegmaier, then an amateur, beat around the mini-tours for almost a decade before qualifying for the Web.Com, then for the PGA Tour.

If anyone were to ask Gallo for advice, he knows exactly what to tell them.

“If you haven’t figured it out by 24 or 25, then it’s time to move on,” Gallo said. “The direct access to the PGA Tour doesn’t exist anymore. That gave us all a shot at the end of the year. Kids are winning now (on tour) with exemptions. If you don’t do it (make the tour) by 24 or 25, you better look at something else to do. It’s the truth, the cold hard fact of it.”

Northern Junior

Nearly 140 competitors, boys and girls representing 23 different states, provinces and countries will tee it up at the 16th Northern Junior Championship beginning Tuesday at New Haven CC.

There will be a new girls champion this year while last year’s boys champion, Bobby Weise from Freehold, New Jersey, tees off at 8:57 a.m. Weise birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff last August.

Sarah Houle, the CIAC girls high school state champion from Newtown and who finished tied for third in the State Women’s Amateur, tees off at 12:06 p.m. Boys who made the Register’s All-Area team this spring who are competing are: Alex Aurora of Hamden, the medalist in the Division I state tournament (8:03 a.m.), Ben James from Hamden Hall (9:33), Chris Fosdick from Xavier (10:18) and Charlie Csejka from Amity (10:45).

The final round will be held on Wednesday.