Golfer With East Windsor Roots Coasts To Victory At CSGA Tournament

OLD LYME, CT — As a top-flight golfer at East Windsor High School in the mid-2010s, AJ Ouimet had just one fellow Panther as a teammate, forcing the duo to play alongside the Enfield High School team. The past two days, he paired up with a different partner and blew away the field at the Connecticut State Golf Association Two-Man Championship.

Ouimet, now playing out of the Country Club of Waterbury, teamed with Anthony Guerrera of the Watertown Golf Club to post a stellar 10-under par 61 in the morning four-ball to take a six-stroke lead. The duo never looked back, finishing 9-under and the winners by five strokes at the Black Hall Club.

The victory marked the first CSGA title for both Ouimet and Guerrera, though they had come close on prior occasions. Last year, the pair lost in a playoff at the Connecticut Four-Ball, and Ouimet led deep into the second round at the Russell C. Palmer Cup before finishing fourth.

"I will give credit where credit is due," said Ouimet, 24, who played at Central Connecticut State University for two years before transferring to Valdosta State University in Georgia and earning a Billy Grant Golf Endowment Scholarship. "I was playing with Ben Day at the Country Club of Waterbury over the weekend where we are both members, and he told me that the only thing Tiger Woods preaches to his son Charlie is that execution is more important than breathing. When I first heard it, I thought this is so serious and intense and I kind of laughed about it. Then Ben got all serious and stared me in the eyes and said if you hit every shot like your life depends on it, you will win your next tournament. So I tried to incorporate that a little bit and once it started working, that is what we kept saying all day."

Ouimet and Guerrera carded 11 birdies and just one bogey in the morning round, then coasted to victory in the afternoon with a pair of birdies and three bogeys.

"It takes a lot to win," Ouimet said. "But winning validates the work that we put in together over the winter. I think there is a lot of chemistry between us and in four-ball it really shows. We feed off each other. Breaking through is the feeling that you need to start making a run. Both of us I think have professional ambitions and winning now is great. It is a great way to start the year."

Success became second nature to Ouimet during his scholastic days. He was medalist at the North Central Connecticut Conference championship as a freshman in 2013, then captured the 2015 Division IV state championship by four strokes in 2015, shooting even-par 72. He was NCCC Player of the Year, and represented Team Connecticut at the New England Junior Championships.

The following year, he again shot even-par 72 at the Division IV tournament to place second. He played on the Connecticut Junior Team, and had second-place finishes at the Long Island Junior Championships and Connecticut Junior PGA Championship.

During his tenure at Central Connecticut, Ouimet's best round was a 69 at the 2017 Towson Spring Invitational. The Blue Devils won the Northeast Conference championship and advanced to the 2018 NCAA Regionals. At Valdosta State, he fired a career-low 67 at the 2019 Copperhead Championship and was also a Dean's List student.

At Monday's CSGA event, second place was shared by Brad Tilley (Brooklawn CC) and Conor McGovern (Brooklawn CC); Eric Bleile (Sterling Farms GC) and Jason Longo (Brooklawn CC) at 4-under, Kyle Bilodeau (Blackledge CC) and Drew Brennan (Ellington Ridge CC) were fourth at 3-under while Cody Paladino (Hartford GC) and Kevin Josephson (Timberlin GC) were fifth with a 1-under tally.