EX-FHS Golfer Mullen Takes His Game to CCSU

Monte Mullen was introduced to sports in much the same way as other children in suburban America.

He played soccer and basketball while growing up in Manchester. He did some skiing.

But the game that enthralled him most was golf. He gravitated toward golf as a lad of 3 and received some expert lessons, but he really got in the swing of things when he began teeing up balls for Farmington High School and its venerable coach Ted Orzech.

After a stellar scholastic career that catapulted him among the state’s top juniors, Mullen is now peppering greens for the Central Connecticut State University team.

“I actually started swinging a golf club at 18 months,” Mullen said. “My dad and one of his good buddies from college took my older brother and his friend’s son to a driving range near where we used to live. I tagged along with my plastic golf club.”

The older boys quickly turned their focus elsewhere and Monte picked up one of their clubs.

“I still have that women’s cut-down five-iron that’s maybe 20 inches long,” he said.

That club is now retired to his nostalgia closet, but he’s done quite a job with the others he’s used along the way.

Mullen was a three-time All-CCC performer and twice won All-State recognition.

He won the CCC West Tournament in June, helping lead Farmington to the team title. He won the Connecticut Pepsi Junior Championship at Hunter Memorial in Meriden and Timberlin by shooting 139 over two days, seven strokes better than his nearest competition. He thus qualified for the Junior PGA Championship held in August in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but missed the cut.

Mullen also fired a 2-under 70 to win a Connecticut Open qualifier at Laurel View in Hamden, which sent him to the Open at Brooklawn in Fairfield. He shot a 73-72-75 there and made the cut.

He finished the summer by taking third at the Computer Merchant Cup at Wintonbury in Bloomfield.

When Mullen showed at such an early age that he had a predilection for golf, local pro John Shea took notice.

“He came up to my parents and said, ‘I want to coach your son,’ Mullen said. He obviously saw something in me then,” Mullen said. “It’s not just a student-teacher relationship because it’s been going on for 13 years. We both qualified for the Connecticut Open and we play a round of golf every weekend.”

The Mullens considered private school for Monte when he was in eighth grade, but he wound up with a rewarding experience at Farmington High under Orzech's guidance. Monte played with the varsity right from the start.

“[FHS athletic director] Jack Phelan remembers me when I was in eighth grade,” Monte said. “He told [Orzech] that this kid coming up is so good he’s going to be varsity his freshman year.”

He was the only underclassman on a typically strong Farmington squad and paid his dues.

“I had some decent scores,” he said. “I had some 36’s and 35’s but also had some 46’s and 47’s that hurt the team. I got to the conference tournament at Tunxis and shot an even-par 70. That was the jump-start.”

Orzech had a hand in adjusting Monte’s mental game.

“He always made an emphasis to take each hole as it is and brush it off, whether it was good or bad,” Mullen said. “It’s a hard concept because you always want to keep the good, keep it rolling, but sometimes it’s not the best thing. When your mind focuses on the good, that’s when the bad shows up. It can surprise you and give you a big number quickly.”

He repeated an Orzech catch-phrase about approaching the sport.

“Don’t play the man, play the course,” Mullen said. “Take each shot one at a time and sort of out-smart the golf course. Whether or not your opponent hits it further or shorter, he can still make the same score you do.

“There’s an intimidation factor. It took me a long time. I’m only 5-foot-7, a lot of the other kids were taller and it hit me. It took me a while to play within myself and realize I can make a better score by doing my own thing.”

While Mullen excelled in regular season matches, postseason state tournaments posed more of a struggle.

“I had some troubles,” he said. “There’s something about the states. They’re so much more competitive. It took me until my junior year to realize how you have to step up and how good you have to play to make All-State."

He won the Division 1 state title as a junior with a 72 at Crestbrook Park in Harwinton, but fell back to 77 in June.

“I was taken aback when I realized how many good players there were in high school," he said. "You learn you have to look at the bigger picture.”

Mullen’s first college inclination was to attend the University of Delaware. He thought playing in a warmer climate would help his game, but when it didn’t work out, CCSU coach Kevin Giancola put out the welcome mat.

“Monte is the perfect collegiate team player,” said Giancola, who won his fourth straight Connecticut PGA Championship Wednesday. “He is consistent, very strong mentally and never quits. He has quickly adjusted to the pressures of Division I collegiate golf and has responded better than I had hoped in his first two events.”

Mullen shot 77-72-79 at his first college tournament at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. He followed that up with a 10th-place finish (75-71 – 146) at the Blue Devil Invitational at the Wethersfield Country Club last weekend.

Mullen obviously would love a chance to play professionally, but he’s got four years of college to deal with first and has a realistic view of such a lofty goal.

“In my humble opinion I have a long way to go,” he said. “I’m going to take Central and run with it. I’ll practice as much as I can and make a run at it. If I improve greatly, I’ll take a shot at it.”