The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
State competition returns with new guidelines in place
STRATFORD — There were no traditional handshakes before or after Tuesday’s State Amateur qualifier at Oronoque Country Club. There was no touching the flagsticks, no rakes in the bunkers, no caddies to carry the bags.
There were no scorecards to keep. Golfers kept an opponent’s score on their phone. Golfers confirmed scores to the Connecticut State Golf Association without having to sign a scorecard, or attest. There were no spectators allowed on the grounds.
Welcome to the new normal for tournament golf due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Amateur qualifier was not only the state’s first golf competition, but likely the first competition in any type of sport since mid-March.
“At the end of the day, no matter what I shot today, it’s just nice to be out here playing competitive golf again,” said Greenwich’s Jackson Fretty, the medalist with a 2-over-par 74. “I’m fortunate enough to be out here playing golf again, I should enjoy it for what it is.”
Golfers only needed to wear masks when entering the clubhouse or if they couldn’t stay far enough away from others. The game itself lends to social distancing while on the course.
“Players are happy to be playing, happy to compete and willing to follow social distancing guidelines,” said Mike Moraghan, the CSGA’s executive director. “It’s awkward not being able to shake hands with someone on the first tee or when you finish the round. Everyone was more than willing to be cooperative and maintain social distancing and keep everyone safe. It’s important for everyone to look out for one another now.”
Darien’s Alex Gu shot 75, finishing one shot back of Fretty — a former FCIAC high school golf rival. He lost his senior season at Darien High and hadn’t played a competitive round in the state since last August.
That event was also played in Stratford at Mill River CC. Gu and Fretty were a part of the victorious state New England Junior Invitational team. This year’s invitational, scheduled for August in Massachusetts, has already been canceled due to the pandemic.
“This was not that far from how we played before the Coronoavirus, with an extra degree of difficulty,” said Gu, who won last year’s State Open high school championship and will play at Dartmouth University this fall. “The events I play this summer will help me gain some good experience and gain momentum going into college.”
Fretty just completed his freshman year at Princeton. The team’s last competition was a match against Duke in February. He signed up to play in the Golfweek Myrtle Beach Collegiate, put together by the golf magazine and PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com last month for college players after they all lost their season.
It will be held June 24-26 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The State Amateur will be held at Shorehaven GC in Westport June 22-25.
“I didn’t realize when I signed up that the dates conflicted with the Connecticut Amateur. I’ll have to figure out what to do,” Fretty said.
Hamden’s Alex Aurora and the rest of the Lehigh golf team had flown out to Alameda, California, in March for the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout. The event was canceled the day after the team arrived.
“Right when we landed was when our phones started blowing up (about the pandemic),” said Aurora, a rising sophomore, who did not qualify for the Amateur. “The next morning, the tournament got canceled. We flew back the next day.”
Jay Abate, a member at Oronoque CC, was one of 12 golfers to qualify for the Amateur out of 68 competing.
“It’s great to have the competition back,” Abate said. “This is phenomenal for Oronoque to show off our course. To tell you the truth, I didn’t sign up until last week. If it wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have played.”
Jamie Anderson, another member at Oronoque CC, said the “transformation (the course) has taken over the past week to 10 days is incredible.”
Anderson, who failed to qualify, coaches high school boys basketball at his alma mater, Law in Milford. The Lawmen were in the midst of state tournament play when the winter postseason events were canceled due to the pandemic.
“I was telling (his cocaptain Jon Vitale in March), ‘Five boys teams end their season with a win. You ended your high school career with a win (against North Haven in the first round). It’s not as far as you wanted to go, but you are walking off after a W.’”
T.J. Trimboli, a former schoolboy basketball star at Norwalk, qualified for the Amateur and will get to play on his home course (Shorehaven). He coaches his two son’s AAU teams, High Rise out of Stamford.
While there have been no AAU games, Trimboli, a Norwalk resident, conducted weekly zoom meetings and provided voluntary workouts for the kids — which ended up being a blessing in disguise.
“I even gave them summaries to do on the Last Dance (the ESPN series on the 1998 Chicago Bulls). There was nothing mandatory except to log what they did every day,” Trimboli said. “My kids would have never gotten that individual skill work had we been playing every single weekend and practicing 2-3 times per week.”
The CSGA will conduct two more Amateur qualifiers next week. There will be a field of just 78 players at Shorehaven. No carts, no caddies and no spectators will be allowed.