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07/30/2024 12:37 AMDanny LaDore realized he had one final run with the North Haven golf team this year. It led to him letting go of any anxieties and sources of trepidation on the links and helping to lead the Nighthawks to one of the better years in recent memory.
The North Haven Class of 2024 member started off by playing baseball and then football until eighth grade, before his father helped him gravitate towards golf. As a senior, Danny stepped up in his final foray and helped North Haven attain dual top 5 finishes at both of its postseason draws by finishing runner-up at the SCC Championship and fifth for states in Division II.
“My dad had a private club membership, so I played a lot there. I started to enjoy it more and more and became more competitive with it over the years,” says Danny. “When you start a season, you play against new kids. Yet when you play a team a second time, you get to know the guys on the other team and you get to know them better. The biggest thing that has helped me is my consistency. I struggled my first couple of years because of my mental game and keeping a level head. I would get so angry that I could not finish. I learned to just have a goldfish memory.”
Danny’s mental improvement simply came out of a sense of urgency in a way. He realized that his time was fleeting when it came to his Nighthawks' tenure, so he learned to lessen the tension and get back to simple and pure enjoyment of the game.
“I noticed my mental game improved especially this year when I realized it was my final year, and I wanted to just have fun with the game,” Danny says. “I just kind of chilled out with it. The mental game is really important because after a bad hole, you can get down on yourself, or you can pick yourself up. One bad hole doesn’t make the whole round.”
There was certainly a youth movement on the North Haven roster in 2024. So for the campaign, Danny took it upon himself to take the personal lessons he learned and bestow some valuable intangibles to the youngsters to toughen their mentality.
“We had a lot of younger guys on our team this year,” says Danny. “I realized I had to be a good role model for them. I also realized I had to lead by example and show them that when you have one bad hole, you can’t dwell on it and have to get over it.”
North Haven golf Head Coach Kevin St. Pierre proclaims that Danny was all in from Day 1 as a freshman. Yet this past spring for his swan song with the Nighthawks, he took it to another level and truly embraced every single match, practice, and drill to help himself grow as a golfer and person.
“Daniel showed tremendous maturity within his career at North Haven. He immediately made an impact from the first day of practice as a freshman, all the way up to his final practice and match as a senior,” says St. Pierre. “This year, I saw the most out of Danny. He completely understood and embraced different concepts and practices needed to compete at a high level and continued to strive to become a better player. Danny earned the No. 2 spot in the lineup throughout the season. The life lessons and skills needed to be successful at the game of golf I feel Danny has learned and will carry with him throughout the game of life. I am very proud of him.”
When it comes to putting power behind the ball off the tee, Danny brought the intensity and strength as the spring wore on. He explains that his fairway shots had been a bit of up and down, but it was just a microcosm of one of the signature principles of golf.
“At the start of the year, I was not handling my drive too well, but it improved a lot as the year went on,” Danny says. “My irons have been on and off; sometimes they are good and bad. Yet you will never be perfect all the time with golf, so I just play through it.”
Danny also explains that even with some rookies rising to the starting lineup, experience weighed heavily in the favor of North Haven. There were no walls of division between the classes, and the camaraderie cultivated success.
“The two seniors on the team had been with the team for four years, and then our junior Will Sagnella played for three years,” says Danny. “As time went on, we got to know the younger guys and the freshmen starters. I think getting to know each other really helped us do well as a team this year.”
There was a great deal of personal growth that Danny experienced the last four years on the links. He explains that persistence and perseverance with ever-lasting self-belief will always carry him far.
“Playing for North Haven was an awesome experience. It was great to be out there and not worry about a bad round,” Danny says. “Coach St. Pierre has always been there for me, and I love that guy. Golf taught me a lot of lessons, and I learned how to grow. I learned that you cannot give up on yourself, and you always have to turn the page and move forward no matter what.”