By Joe Morelli
jmorelli@nhregister.com
@nhrJoeMorelli on Twitter
There was a time when golf was the single most important thing in Steve Sokol?s life. He carried the same ultimate goal most young golfers do: reach the PGA Tour.
Sokol didn?t reach that ultimate goal, but now 34, the Milford resident is pretty content with how things turned out.
?A lot of it seems like it was yesterday and there are times where it seems like it was 50 years ago,? Sokol said. ?So much in my life has changed.?
?It? was the 2003 Connecticut Open, the biggest golf tournament in the state each year outside of the Travelers Championship. He hasn?t missed a cut in the event since, except for not playing in it in 2004. Last week, he shot a 68 in the final round of the 79th Connecticut Open at Torrington Country Club to finish seventh and gain an exemption into next year?s Open at Rolling Hills CC in Wilton.
If you knew Sokol then and now, you may be amazed by the change. Before the Open, he had played just six rounds all year.
So what did he do to prepare for the Open? ?I hit balls once and chipped and putted two or three times,? he said.
Sokol was the Register Area MVP for golf in 1998 out of Ansonia High, then played collegiate golf at both Old Dominion and Florida Southern. He played on the mini-tours and overseas with some success, none bigger than the 2003 Open.
?I did have some success,? Sokol said. ?I played pretty well, I had my chances. I didn?t always take advantage of them. I thought I?d be good enough to do this and keep going.?
In 2004, he qualified for the U.S. Open and played well for a time over the first two rounds before missing the cut. Not too long after that, he tore a ligament in his left thumb.
?It bothered me pretty bad at Q School (the PGA Tour?s qualifying school),? Sokol said. ?I couldn?t take the top off a chapstick or a water bottle. I probably shouldn?t have been playing at that point, but you try to play because it?s tour school and your one shot for the year.? Continued...
Sokol made it through the first stage of Q School four times, but never past the second stage. He had thumb surgery soon after that particular year?s Q School attempt. But Sokol admitted he ?probably came back too quickly? and made adjustments to his swing to compensate for the recovery.
He continued to compete after he healed and after he met his future wife Aileen. Eventually, he became a father to Stephen, now 3 1/2 and Jackson, almost 2, and golf fell on his priority list.
?Back then, that?s all I did, that?s all that mattered. I didn?t have any bigger responsibilities other than myself and playing golf,? Sokol said. ?Now I have two jobs, two young kids, a wife, bills and the things that go along with that. So golf is now pretty far down the bottom on the priority list.?
Sokol is an assistant pro at Orange Hills CC and took over as the head golf coach at Division II Post in Waterbury in February. Both jobs, and a family, has given Sokol an entirely new perspective.
?I wouldn?t trade my life right now with my wife and my kids for anything,? Sokol said. ?Even when I was playing in college, my goal was to make enough and play well enough to be able to still enjoy being with my kids.?
Barone, Boynton advance to regional
Amanda Barone of Woodbridge and Finn Boynton of Milford both advanced to a regional qualifier for the Drive, Chip and Putt nation-wide competition.
On July 18 in local qualifying at Triggs Municipal GC in Providence, R.I., Barone recorded the highest score in her age bracket (14-15) with 124 points. Boynton did the same in his bracket (14-15) with 141 points.
The regional qualifier will be held Aug. 12 at Pinehills GC in Plymouth, Mass. The top qualifier in each age/gender bracket will advance to the competition?s national championship, which will be held April 6, 2014 at Augusta National Golf Club.
U.S. Women?s Amateur Continued...
Isabelle Lendl of Goshen is the only golfer from Connecticut who qualified for the U.S. Women?s Amateur beginning Monday at CC of Charleston in Charleston, S.C.
Lendl goes off the first hole at 12:50 p.m. Monday and off the 10th hole Tuesday at 7:50 a.m. The low 64 players from the 36 holes of stroke play advance to match play beginning Wednesday.
Megan Khang, the reigning two-time Connecticut Women?s Open champion who lives in Rockland, Mass., goes off the 10th hole at 2:30 p.m. Monday and the first hole Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
Joe Morelli can be reached at jmorelli@nhregister.com. Follow Joe on Twitter @nhrJoeMorelli.
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Source: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/08/03/sports/doc51fda6475d8fc328845067.txt
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