KNOW YOUR PRO

Michael Myszkowski

Course: Stonington Country Club

Years as pro there: He's been at the course for 15 years.

Favorite hole: The par 3, 12th hole. "It's just a little more challenging than it looks. It's a very pretty hole. And I do like the stretch of 10 through 13, that's my favorite. I personally call it the Amen Corner for us. The unique thing about that stretch, holes 11 and 13 are two great par fours and neither of them have a bunker, which is interesting. You don't see that too often at golf courses."

Best part about your job: "The members are fantastic. It's a very, very nice golf course. The staff that I work with are all great. It's just a good golf club."

Favorite courses: New South Wales Club in Australia, Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

Holes-in-one: His only ace came at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, accomplishing the feat on the 17th hole. "Because the pin was just over a little crest, I wasn't actually able to see it go in. One of my playing partners thought they might have seen it go in. It was an eight iron shot." He added that he once had an albatross, which is a double eagle, in Lakeland, Fla.

Best golf advice: "Play. Just play. You get better by playing."

Dream foursome: Too tough to choose.

Fun facts: Michael is a Connecticut native, growing up in Newington and attending high school there. He played on a successful high school golf team.

But he did not pursue a golf career right after high school graduation. Instead, he focused on his studies and got an accounting degree from UConn. He worked in that profession for about seven years before deciding to change course.

"I also was going to graduate school at the same time," Michael said. "The last course that I took — I never completed my master's — was called career management. At the end of that course, I submitted a paper. And the last line of my paper stated that I was going to become the assistant golf professional at Hop Meadow Country Club. That was in March of 1989.

"I have always been involved in sports all my life and I just decided that I wanted to do something with sports and thought that was a road that I can take."

Michael ended up working as an assistant pro at Hop Meadow in Simsbury

In 1994, he accepted his first head pro position at Pautipaug Country Club, which is now the Mohegan Sun Golf Club. Then he took a brief detour, working as the tournament director for the Futures Golf Tour while his wife served as the public relations/media director.

He eventually became a head pro in Lakeland, Fla., working there for about seven years. Then he moved back north, working at the Bay Club Mattapoisett, Mass., before finding a comfortable home at Stonington Country Club.

— Gavin Keefe