About midway through the spring golf season, Jack Ognisty's frustration level started to climb.

Ognisty's short game fell shy of his acceptable standards.

So Ognisty did something about it.

He logged numerous extra practice hours at Stonington Country Club, where he's a member, polishing out the rough edges until his game improved and frustration subsided.

As a result, the Stonington High School junior played his best golf down the stretch. Ognisty was named The Day's 2016 All-Area Golfer of the Year, following in the golf spikes of his older brother Sam, who received the award last year.

Art Howe has coached very few golfers at Stonington with Ognisty's work ethic.

"His older brother, Sam, is the same way," Howe said. "Jack's laid back and he's very competitive. He got very frustrated in the middle of the year when he wasn't making his ups and downs. ... He spent 12-15 hours one weekend between Friday night, Saturday and Sunday at Stonington just chipping and putting.

"... Jack works very hard at what he does."

For the last three seasons, Ognisty has been a key contributor to the Stonington program. He lost only about three matches as a freshman and sophomore, earning All-Area honors last season. As the team's No. 1 golfer this season, he faced the league's toughest competition.

Ognisty's scores in Eastern Connecticut Conference play regularly dipped below 40, keeping him in contention in nearly every match. A Medium Division all-star, he finished with an impressive differential of 3.48. He had a respectable showing in tournament play, firing an 82 at the ECC Championship — although he expected better — and an 80 in the Division III state tournament, helping the Bears place fifth.

Howe could never tell from Ognisty's body language or facial expressions if the junior played well or not after a match.

"We actually joke about it," Howe said. "'Who knows what Jack Ognisty shot?' He pretty much has the same demeanor. Sometime he gets angry. You can see it every once in awhile, especially if he did something bad on the ninth hole and it is fresh in his head.

"But, most of the time, no. ... He's pretty even-keeled."

Ever since Ognisty started taking the sport seriously, at about 12 years old, he's always found playing golf a relaxing exercise.

"Golf is more like relaxing for me, although I still stay competitive and work hard," Ognisty said. "At ECCs and states, I wasn't playing as well as I wanted to play but I was still having a good time out there."

Sure, Ognisty feels some pressure during a match. But he generally handles that well and can shake off a bad round.

Case in point: during a regular season match against East Lyme he got off to a rough start, standing at 3-over after three holes at Elmridge Golf Course. He recovered and shot a 2-under for the last six holes, firing a 36.

"That's one of my best parts of golf, I can just forget about it," Ognisty said.

This summer, you won't find Ognisty far from a golf course on any given day. He works as a caddie at Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Westerly and plans on playing in some junior tournaments.

Ognisty, who also excels in the classroom, has other interests. He participates in recreation hockey in the winter. He plays trombone in the high school jazz band and also plays several other instruments, including guitar. He likes to record songs on his computer and performs at school talent shows and coffee houses.

For his senior year, he's thinking about trying either drama or track for the first time.

As far as his future plans, he's already looking at colleges, including Cornell where his brother goes. He would like to major in environmental engineering.

"If I could possibly tie it in with my interest in golf, an environmental engineer who works on golf course redesigning and stuff like that, that would be great," Ognisty said.

g.keefe@theday.com

The Day's 2016 All-Area Golf Team

Player of the Year - Jack Ognisty (Stonington)

Graham Aird (Old Lyme)

Brett Collins (Waterford)

Jack Glenn (Stonington)

Noah Straub (NFA)

Jack Sullivan (NFA)