It\u2019s a fore-tunate time for youth golf on Long Island.<\/p>\n
Coaches say the sport has grown exponentially at the high school level locally, thanks greatly to the worldwide spectacle of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black last month, which inspired a new generation to hit the links.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a school that graduates about 120, and we had 42 kids try out this year,\u201d Cold Spring Harbor varsity coach Jamie Lawlor told The Post during a Tuesday practice at Huntington Country Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time we really saw numbers like that was when Bethpage had the U.S. Open in 2002 \u2026 and I\u2019m hearing similar things from other schools,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Kids from all sports have caught the golf bug at the height of Ryder Cup mania, according to Lawlor, who said he even had football players trade turf for greens this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all talking about the Ryder Cup at school. I\u2019m seeing lots of students wearing the merch,\u201d the longtime coach said.<\/p>\n
It also helped that several Long Island high school teams, like the Seahawks of Cold Spring Harbor, were practicing and playing at other Bethpage courses during the major construction on Black last spring.<\/p>\n
Even those who just made varsity for the first time in the fall, like 10th grader Hunter Arcati, said the energy coming out of Nassau County was palpable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working all summer, every day. I\u2019ve been loving the game,\u201d said Arcati, who saw a Ryder Cup practice round in person.<\/p>\n
Jonah Benson tees off during practice for Cold Spring Harbor high school varsity golf at Huntington Country Club in Cold Spring Harbor. Heather Khalifa for New York Post<\/p>\n
He went for more than just a close gander at the world\u2019s best, however. Arcati wanted to see how he could liken his game to that of the all-stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching a lot of their swings and stuff, seeing how mine matches with them \u2014 trying to fix my slice and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawlor encourages the kids to emulate their favorite PGA golfer \u2014 Arcati is partial to Justin Thomas \u2014 to help find \u201ca swing they identify with the most,\u201d to get them closer to that caliber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been going to [the] range a lot now, watching lots of videos on their swings to get better,\u201d added Arcati.<\/p>\n
Hunter Arcati putts during practice for Cold Spring Harbor high school varsity golf at Huntington Country Club in Cold Spring Harbor. Heather Khalifa for New York Post<\/p>\n
Jonah Benson, an 11th grader on the competitive squad for the second year in a row, also used the Ryder Cup to get closer to golf \u2014 and his peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was cool just to see all those guys teaming up, working together, and we\u2019re trying to do the same thing here,\u201d Benson said while wearing a Ryder Cup golf shirt he bought at a practice round.<\/p>\n
Once the stands are broken down and Bethpage Black re-opens, Arcati and Benson are striving to play the hallowed course for the first time \u2014 even if it means camping out overnight for a tee time.<\/p>\n
Head coach Jamie Lawlor hits from the bunker during practice for Cold Spring Harbor high school varsity golf at Huntington Country Club in Cold Spring Harbor. Heather Khalifa for New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect it to be a battle,\u201d said Benson.<\/p>\n
Lawlor is optimistic that the self-motivation and enthusiasm from his players will lead to sharper skills and even more interest by the spring of 2026.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Benson wants to reach states with his Seahawks brethren by senior year, and strives for greatness, motivated by Team USA\u2019s comeback that fell heartbreakingly short on Sunday of the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey taught me to never give up,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a fore-tunate time for youth golf on Long Island. Coaches say the sport has grown exponentially at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,4309,99756,36767,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-203053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-high-school-sports","12":"tag-high-schools","13":"tag-long-island","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}