Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Golf Swung to New Heights as SCC Tier II Champ

Christian Basmadjian was the lone captain and a senior member of the North Haven golf team, which went 15-1 this year, won the SCC Tier II title and qualified for the SCC and state tournaments as a squad for the first time since 2018. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

Sophomore Will Sagnella was named Team MVP for the North Haven golf squad, which participated in postseason tournament action for the first time in five years. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

The North Haven golf team had arguably its best season in quite some time by taking home a tier title as a team following a one-loss regular season and qualifying for a tandem of postseason tournaments. This was done on the strength of a squad that was equally motivated on an individual level and a collective basis with linksmen that were consistently on the mark.

Thanks to an impressive 15-1 regular season record, North Haven captured the top spot in Tier II of the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) and also qualified for the league’s postseason tournament as a group. After finishing in ninth place following turning in a collective scorecard of 349 at the SCC Championship on May 30 at the Farms Country Club, the Nighthawks placed 13th at the Division I State Championship on June 5 at Tallwood Country Club with a team tally of 352 strokes. It marked the first time the program qualified for the conference and state tournaments as a group since 2018.

With these remarkable results, Head Coach Kevin St. Pierre, who concluded his fifth season at the helm, explained that the Nighthawks can reflect back upon this recently completed 2023 campaign with a profound sense of pride and confidence by reaching and exceeding several preseason targets.

“This season was very successful,” said St. Pierre, whose team finished 27th overall in the postseason state rankings out of 93 squads. “Many of the goals that we set in the beginning of the year were reached, which were staying below 200 [for a team score] each match, reaching the SCC Tournament [as an entire team], winning Tier II of the SCC, and reaching the state tournament [also as an entire team].”

From the first days on the links and driving ranges until the final putt was sunk in states, the Nighthawks not only saw great personal growth within each solo member of the squad, but they additionally fired each other up via competition within the ranks for the overall betterment of the club.

“Over the season, we had much growth in developments throughout and each of the players on the team showed drastic improvement,” St. Pierre said. “Continuously, I saw each of the players pushing each other to get better on and off the golf course. The team was all in for the entirety of the season.”

In terms of team awards, sophomore Will Sagnella (occupying the top slot in the North Haven lineup for match play) was named the Team MVP, the Sportsmanship Award honoree was senior captain and the squad’s No. 2 golfer Christian Basmadjian, and then sophomore Alessio Fraschilla was bestowed with the Most Improved Player honor.

In addition to Basmadjian as squad steward and captain, the senior class was rounded out by Peter Harkins and Declan Finkle.

For the Division I State Championship, North Haven boasted individual scores of Sagnella, who finished tied for 14th place with a round of 80, while junior Daniel LaDore notched an 87 to tie for 41st place. Elsewhere, junior Chris Labanara was tied for 43rd place with his tally of 88; Basmadjian was tied for 59th by serving up 97 strokes for his outing; and Finkle found himself in a tie for 75th place with a final score of 104 for his day on the links. On that day, Cheshire took the team crown with a score of 316, and then Guilford’s Andrew Beauton captured the solo title with a round of 70.

Looking to build upon the tremendous strides and strokes achieved in 2023, St. Pierre pointed out that the Nighthawks will boast a strong core of veteran players back into the fold a year from now that are more seasoned for the big stages of postseason play.

“We are also looking forward to continuing to see the development of [junior] Daniel LaDore, Alessio Fraschilla, [junior] Kenny Kaminsky, [freshmen] Ryan Pniewski, Mason Lambert, and any new players who decide to come out for the team,” said St. Pierre on some of his returning golfers for the 2024 campaign. “The future is bright for North Haven golf. Over the past five years, current and now alumni players have built this program to what it is today. All of their hard work and dedication has truly set the standard of what it means to be a North Haven golfer. Going forward, this tradition will continue with the leadership of both Will Sagnella and Chris Labanara as captains.”

The 2023 Nighthawks’ team roster was comprised of seniors Basmadjian, Finkle, Harkins; juniors of Kaminsky, Labanara, LaDore, Nicholas Piscitelli; sophomores Fraschilla, Sagnella; plus the freshmen of Lambert and Pniewski.