Printer Friendly Version - DeMartin Devotes Himself to Golf for Granddad

Junior Kameron DeMartin posted the third-best average on the North Haven golf team this year and will captain the Indians with Noah Garrison and Steve Pugliese next season. Kam, who thanks this year’s captain, David Burwell, for his support, is also a member of the Art Honor Society who writes for the high school’s newspaper, The Phoenix. On top of all that, Kam works with mentally disabled adults at the Benhaven School and is a volunteer partner with the North Haven branch of Special Olympics Connecticut.Photo courtesy of Daria Cummings

Every time Kameron DeMartin steps on the golf course, he’s playing for the person who introduced him to the sport. Kam’s grandfather, George DeMartin, Jr., was a lifelong golfer who bought Kam his first set of clubs. A few months later, in March of 2009, DeMartin passed away from a heart attack at Sleeping Giant Golf Course. Consequently, Kam’s desire to learn how to play diminished and so he dropped the idea—that is, until this year.

Kam kept the notion of playing in the back of his mind and, prior to this season, two of his good friends, Gianni Abate and Rocco DiTullio, encouraged Kam to join the North Haven golf team as a junior. Kam trusted he’d be in good hands under Abate and DiTullio’s wing and he also wanted to get back out there for his grandmother Gayle and her two friends, Vinny and Marilyn, who are all golfers. Kam went to a team meeting, took a lesson with Head Coach Daria Cummings, and felt such a positive vibe that he joined the team. Kam says it was “probably the best decision that I’ve made throughout my high school career.”

“The last few months have really changed how I look at the sport and I’m definitely excited to play for him because, people that knew him, they tell me, ‘You walk like him, talk like him, you do things eerily similar to him,’” says Kam of his grandfather. “I wish I knew him better when he was here, but now I understand what he was doing in trying to help people play golf and progress. That’s what he was all about—go and get it for other people. There’s really a connection I have with him now that sort of replaces the connection that I didn’t have with him, sadly, when he was alive.”

Kam’s grandfather died while playing the sixth hole at Sleeping Giant, but Kam thought it was the eighth hole. A few weeks ago, Kam sank his first birdie on the sixth hole while practicing with North Haven on that course and he texted his grandmother to tell her. She called Kam and said that he’d made the birdie on the same hole where his grandad passed.

“I had never hit a birdie and I always thought that my pop—I called him pop—died on the eighth hole and it was the sixth hole,” Kam says. “There was a downhill slope going toward the cup. It hit the left side of the slope and defied physics and rolled all the way to the right and into the cup...I was totally blown away because, first of all, I never thought I’d be playing as well as I had been that day, and for this to happen on top of everything was really crazy for me.”

Kam wasn’t initially one of the top-four golfers whose scores account for the Indians’ point total during matches, but he quickly attained that status and finished with the third-best average on the team at 52. Kam’s best score was a 50 at Pine Orchard County Club and he also turned in a solid round at the Chappa Tournament, while playing 18 holes for the first time. Coach Cummings was impressed with how much Kam improved during his first season on the links.

“I think it’s just part of who he is. Kam is an all-around good guy who’s willing to put in the work, even when he doesn’t get the results right away. Kam wasn’t in our first match and he wasn’t upset about it. He just took control of the practice squad and played with the freshmen and did what he had to do. He always seems to do that. He figures out what needs to be done and works hard to get it done,” Cummings says. “Kam DeMartin is the kind of player every coach wants on their team. He is smart, funny, caring, hard-working, and competitive. He has risen to a leadership position because his coach and every player on the team trusts him and looks forward to being around him.”

Cummings adds that Kam was like a big brother to North Haven’s freshmen and that they loved working with him. That’s one of the reasons why Kam was voted as a captain for the 2017 season.

“It felt really great that my team voted me almost unanimously,” says Kam. “I think I’ll be able to get the job done and push the program forward...The younger guys and the guys in my grade seem to trust me with certain things and look to me a lot of times and I enjoy taking that responsibility. I’ll help the team as much as I can. It’s really about the program and not so much us as individuals.”