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05/15/2016 12:00 AMAfter spending two decades as an assistant coach, Jen Kohut took the reins as the head coach of Branford golf this spring and she’s happy with how things are going. Kohut, who’s also the head coach of Hornets’ girls’ soccer, stepped into her new role after longtime Head Coach Dennis Swirsky stepped down.
“It’s exciting to be the head coach,” said Kohut. “I did not want Dennis to leave and he did a great job for a long time, but it’s nice to think that the guys here are excited that I took over and things have been really positive so far this year.”
Kohut feels pleased that her club is 10-5 and in the mix to compete in both the SCC Championship and Division II State Championship. She also likes that Branford’s athletes are unifying as a group in what’s largely known as an individual sport.
“It really is a team in respect to being leaders. One day after we lost to Sheehan, the whole team—and you never see this from a golf team—put their hands in for a Branford cheer to try and pull the group together. They go out to dinner together once a week and they’re a tight-knit group,” Kohut said. “They have a great attitude. Their attitude is really positive with each other, they pick each other up, and they also have fun joking around together.”
The Hornets have won eight of their last nine matches and went 4-0 last week. Branford first posted a 178-198 home victory against Law at Pine Orchard Country Club on May 9. The following afternoon, the Hornets scored 173 to defeat East Haven (211) and Cross (215) at Alling Memorial Golf Club. Branford capped the week by defeating North Haven 170-214 at Pine Orchard on May 12.
In the Law victory, junior Ryan Sember earned medalist honors at the match’s low scorer by shooting a 38. Sophomore Liam Deane and senior Joe Reilly both recorded scores of 45, while senior Mike Annunziata shot a 50.
Sember was once again medalist in the sweep at Alling by turning in a scorecard of 40. Deane shot a 43, Annunziata had a 44, and sophomore Jason Brennan scored a 46.
Against North Haven, Sember and Deane both came back to the clubhouse with a score of 40 and were thus co-medalists. Annunziata posted a 43, while Reilly and Brennan each shot a 47.
Reilly, Annunziata, and Sember are Branford’s captains and Kohut is impressed with how the trio is performing in multiple areas.
“Ryan Sember leads by his play. He’s the low man on our team right now with an average of 39.5,” she said. “Joe Reilly does a great job of getting all the guys together and having them be involved. He gets them to play on other courses on our off days and stuff like that. Mike came in with a 43 the other day and he’s always working hard and plugging away at his game. He has a great work ethic.”
Kohut has also taken note of how well Deane, Brennan, and EJ Lee, who’s the lone girl on the team, are playing in their sophomore seasons.
“Liam puts up good scores. He’s had a few in the 40s this year and he’s a consistent player. I always know that he’ll come in with a good score that will help us,” she said. “Jason is also in our top five. He wants to be a really good player and works hard at it. He plays in junior [United States Golf Association] tournaments in the summer and really loves the sport of golf. EJ is our No. 6 person right now and she’s really improved a lot from last year by working in her game over the summer.”
The rest of the Hornets’ roster features seniors Nick Johnson and James Mason; plus juniors Harrison Kent, Scott Klouda, and Mitchell Petrillo.