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08/29/2017 12:00 AMFor the past 40 years, Dave Augustine has guided the East Haven High School golf team as its head coach. This November, Dave will be recognized for his dedication to Yellowjackets’ athletics when he’s inducted into the East Haven Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Dave, a Branford resident, says that he’s honored to be joining such an esteemed class of people.
“I was thrilled to be a part of it, because it’s a big deal. When you think about it, all the people that are in there have been heavily involved in athletics and the school,” Dave says. “To be a part of that group and have your face on the wall forever is really a big thing.”
Dave says that receiving this honor makes him think about his father Chester, who passed away in October of 2016. Dave wishes that he and his dad could share in this accomplishment together.
“I lost my dad in October. He was 92, and he got sick and passed away. For the last five years, when I’d go to visit my parents around September or October, when you’d put all the pictures of the people being inducted in the Hall of Fame for that year, we’d have this ongoing conversation where he’d say he got the Courier, and I wasn’t on the list,” says Dave. “All I want to do is get the paper and hold it up to show him that I’m in it this year.”
Dave competed for East Haven’s golf squad and went on to golf for Division II Sacred Heart University, captaining the team as a senior. That experience was all Dave needed to take the reins as the Yellowjackets’ golf coach in 1977, and he’s been in that the position ever since.
“The only other golf coach at the school was Frank Crisafi. When he became the athletic director, it was school policy that administrators couldn’t coach anymore, so I got a phone call from the chairman of the Board of Education, and he told me he had my résumé in front of him. I had no idea what he was calling me for and he said, ‘You were a Division II NCAA golfer,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s right.’ So he asked if I ever considered coaching golf, and I told him, ‘Not really, but I bet it’d be a fun thing to do.’ He then said, ‘I’m offering you the job based on your résumé,’” says Dave. “When I said, ‘Frank is the coach,’ he told me, ‘Not anymore,’ so the next morning I was straight to Frank Crisafi’s office and told him about the conversation. He looked at me and said to take the job, because it’s the best job there is. So that night, I called the chairman and took the job. I never thought in my wildest imaginations I’d still be doing it 40 years later.”
Dave still believes that being head coach of East Haven golf is the best job there is. Dave loves getting out there on the course with his players every day during the spring season.
“It’s the best sport you can coach. You have the greatest interaction with your players. You get to play the sport with them. Baseball and basketball coaches are always on the sidelines, but when you’re coaching golf, you’re on the course playing in the groups with your players,” says Dave. “Coaching golf is great. Last year was my 40th year, and a lot of people asked me if that was it. I tell them no. Why would I give this up if I’m healthy? I’m still interacting with the kids and having a lot of fun. I’ll try to do this for as long as I can as long as my health holds out.”
East Haven Athletic Director Anthony Verderame would love for Dave to remain in his post and feels quite excited that the Yellowjackets’ longtime coach is going into the Hall of Fame.
“Dave is a class act. He embodies everything we look for in a leader for our young student-athletes,” Verderame says. “He’s the kind of guy that everybody loves. When you mention his name, people’s faces light up. Everybody has a great experience to share about him, whether it’s coaching, teaching, or a combination of the two.”
Throughout his tenure as head coach, Dave’s teams have claimed five divisional championships, in addition to winning the Housatonic League Tournament title in 1989. Dave was named the New Haven Register’s All-Area Golf Coach of the Year in 2010 and was the SCC Division II Coach of the Year in 2014.
“The highlights are a tremendous thing. So many great honors have come to me based on coaching golf,” he says. “I got to play a lot of great courses here in Connecticut that I normally would’ve never gotten to play had it not been for coaching the team. They’re all private, so coaching has been a big thing.”
With the big day drawing closer, Dave says that he can hardly wait to officially take his place in the East Haven Alumni Association Hall of Fame.
“It’s not going to sink in until the banquet and I meet with the other inductees. It’s just an elite group of people and what a special bond I feel,” says Dave. “It’s going to be a great thing. I’m still walking on air. Any time somebody talks to me about it, I light up. I can’t believe it’s going to happen. Its going to be a great thing.”