Hamden Hall ready to hit the links
Ben James is not only just the state’s top junior golfer, he is one of the nation’s best. He has been playing national tournaments before he became a teenager.
But among the best — if not the best — of James’ junior golf moments was qualifying for the U.S. Junior Presidents Cup team, one of 12 golfers nationwide to fly to Australia. Not only did he get to be part of a winning team with the United States prevailing in December of 2019, he got to rub elbows with the PGA Tour pros who were competing in the Presidents Cup, captained by Tiger Woods.
“You are not just playing for yourself, you are playing as a team,” James said. “You don’t want to let your teammates down so honestly, there is even more pressure because you don’t want to let other people down, plus the friendships you make.”
So you can understand James’ excitement, and for his high school teammates at Hamden Hall Country Day, for the return of high school golf matches this spring after the missed 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our guys and girls are super-excited to get going,” Hamden Hall coach Keith Kaliszewski said. “They all really had high hopes last year in our league and New England certainly. We didn’t lose many kids to graduation, so this year is kind of our second chance.”
Yes Hamden Hall is getting that second chance this spring season. James is back, alongside returnee Jackson Roman and newcomer Sophia Sarrazin, along with North Chery, Johnathan Harlukwicz and senior co-captain Nolan Richards (along with Roman).
The Hornets legitimately have a squad that could go undefeated.
“We will be very difficult to beat. I don’t know of any other high school golf team that has four future Division I golfers on their roster,” Kaliszewski said. “We are really deep. We have really great kids who work really, really hard either at practice or on their own afterwards. They really leave nothing to chance.”
Sarrazin transferred in from Staples in Westport after her freshman season there. This is her second year at Hamden Hall.
A southpaw, Sarrazin won the State Women’s Amateur last July at age 15. She won the Borck Junior tournament in 2019 and finished second last year. She will tee it up on the boys team, albeit one tee box ahead.
“I was super-worried we would not have a season honestly,” said Sarrazin, who makes a 35-minute commute from Westport to in-school sessions. “Even though I am one tee box up, it is still a challenge for me because they are longer hitters than I am. … I can honestly say it motivates me to keep playing better and match them rather than set me back.”
Said Kaliszewski: “The kids on the team respect her, they have been on the course with her. They know how good she is and what she has done in her own journey. More than anything, they respect her work ethic because it is the same as theirs.”
Roman is a three-time Register All-Area selection. He won the KingswoodOxford Invitational in 2019 — which serves as the New England tournament, according to Kaliszewski — finishing one spot ahead of James.
Last summer, Roman, a Kensington resident, won the Borck Junior in his first time entering — the tournament was expanded beyond Fairfield County junior golfers for the first time — and has committed to play at Division I Loyola (Md.) in the fall.
“We are finally able to play against somebody. I feel we have a really, really good team this year, that we can take down anybody,” Roman said. “I want to get back out there and make some birdies.”
James’ lead up to the U.S. Junior Presidents Cup in 2019 including victories at the State Junior Amateur and the Northern Junior and a third-place finish at the Connecticut Open.
His success on the American Junior Golf Association level earned him invitations to national junior and regular amateur events last year. He was also a semifinalist in the Connecticut Amateur last year and is verbally committed to play at Virginia in the fall of 2022.
“We are trying to do the best we can, go out and try to win every match we can, try to keep it simple,” James said.
Not only is Kaliszewski the director of enrollment management at Hamden Hall, he is also an academic adviser for some, including James, among most of the other golfers.
”Ben takes extra time to talk to kids on the team or kids trying out. He kind of has a little celebrity status, but he handles it well. Unless you knew who he was, you would never know it,” Kaliszewski said. “He is definitely not the type of kid who is arrogant about it. Despite his success, he wants to continue to get better.”
This will be the first full regular season of Fairchester League competition since the winter season of 2019-20. The league decided that because of the later start and the need for a mid-May finish with graduations being held shortly thereafter, no postseason tournaments will be held in the Fairchester or New England.
Hamden Hall will participate in the McCampbell Cup being held at Cranston (R.I.) Country Club and in the Hendricken Invitational at Warwick (R.I.) CC, both 18-hole events.
The season started off well: not only did Hamden Hall defeat KingswoodOxford on Monday, the Hornets set a school record with its 177 cumulative total for five golfers on the front nine at New Haven CC. James shot 32, Harlukowicz posted a 34 and Sarrazin a 35.
“The biggest thing missing was playing every single day and practicing every single day with the team, which is more fun than practicing by yourself, which was the case last year with COVID,” Sarrazin said. “You push yourself a little harder to try to beat everyone else.”