WOODBURY — Silence, the state during which noise is cut down to a mere whisper. Calm and collected, everyone on the course is tuned to the competitive silence that envelopes the scene — except someone: Mac Starziski.

Starziski, a senior on Nonnewaug’s golf team, is known as chatty, outgoing, and ready to make the course a social hour, not out of spite for the other players, but because his demeanor is far from complete silence. 

“Mac likes to talk,” says Nonnewaug wellness instructor and golf coach Ryan Campanario. “He likes to be engaged with the people he is playing with, as others don’t like to talk and nobody says you have to [talk] when you are playing golf.”

Spending class time and course time with Starziski, Campanario knows him better than most. When he first started coaching Starziski as a freshman, golf was a spring sport. By his senior season, golf had moved to the fall.

“He was definitely a different kid back then, and I think he would tell you the same thing,” Campanario said.

Hailing from Beacon Falls, Starziski came to Nonnewaug because of the agriscience program. Starziski is currently enrolled in the ag mechanics program and has excelled through the agriscience program, but that’s just part of the spotlight in his story. 

New doors open when a student reaches high school, but as for Starziski, high school catalyzed his dream.

“When I was about 14 years old, down at Hop Brook Golf Course playing with my dad, grandfather, and brother, the head pro of the course showed me the ropes and the entertaining part of being a golf pro,” says Starziski. “At that moment, I realized that was what I wanted to do.” 

Though Starziski’s intentions of coming to Nonnewaug weren’t just for the golf team, it became another beneficial piece to his life that he can take much past high school.

“Playing competitive golf for the school showed me that I could take my skills somewhere rather than leaving everything behind after graduating,” Starziski says.

Playing golf isn’t just swinging a club and hitting the ball into a hole; it can be a metaphor of life’s challenges on a whole other level. Navigating these problems to chase a dream is dedication to the sport and staying true to his dream.

“He’s progressed in a positive way and I think he’s matured a lot,” says Campanario. “He’s kept his emotions in check and learned how to deal with whatever in golf not going his way and in life not going his way.”

In that regard, he became a role model to junior teammate Nicholas Mancini.

“He calms me down when I’m not doing so well and knows how to point me back in the right direction,” Mancini said. 

Golf is a game based on skill and consistency rather than the typical reactionary sports environment. Not only does Mancini get frustrated, but Starziski has fallen down this path, too.

“Sometimes it’s hard to keep your emotions in check in a game of golf when things aren’t going well, and that just kind of shows you the true person you are,” says Campanario. “I think [Starziski has] had a lot of growth as an individual.”

Not only did time help mold Starziski into the person he is today, but it took lots of time to find compatible people for Mac to play with. 

“There has been some growing pains there because there was individuals from other schools that Mac didn’t like to necessarily play with,” says Campanario, “not because they weren’t good people, it’s just they weren’t really talkative, and he enjoys to talk when he’s on the course.”

“He kind of just always wants to play with me because we are like two of the same,” says Mancini. “We both like to have a good time and enjoy the sport.” 

As important it is to Starziski to have a light playing environment, it is equally as important to Mancini.

“He is funny,” Mancini adds. “Mac isn’t too serious about it to the point that we aren’t gonna have fun, but he cares about it enough that he wants to be good at it.”

Fighting through the challenge of finding compatible players, Starziski was able to figure out that golf was his dream.

“I actually didn’t know what I wanted to do before I started playing golf, but coming here showed me that it wasn’t just a high school sport anymore,” says Starziski. “It honestly helped me realize that I could turn it into a job.”

Realizing that he wanted to take golf even further, he applied to one college and one college only. 

“I applied to the Professional Golfers Career College,” says Starziski. “I think that could help me with obviously getting my degree, but also it would show me the ropes on how to run and be around a professional course.” 

Applying to one college represents the bold and faithful dream Starziski holds. If the college route doesn’t work out, there is an alternative that is the hard second in line to becoming a golf pro. 

“One thing I would fall back on is the military; it is something I have been looking into for a little while,” Starziski adds. “I just need to keep working and learning towards becoming the pro I want to be.”

Ultimately, Starziski would be the happiest in the golf world and his peers believe that that is where he will end up. His believers range from students and teachers to family and friends, but his biggest supporter is someone special. 

“My grandfather always thought I was going to be a teacher one day, so in a way I can meet that goal going down this path,” Starziski says. 

Starziski’s grandfather isn’t the only one that believed in him, but someone even even closer on the course had a major impact, too.

“Not only did my grandfather help me see this but Mr. Camp helped get me through high school and helped make it clear that I had a future in this sport,” Starziski says.

There are many achievable levels of being a golf pro. Starziski doesn’t necessarily want to be on TV, but he’d like to work at a private country club or somewhere similar.

“When we think golf pro, a lot of people think of the people you see on TV, but there are many other levels of golf pros,” says Campanario. “Those people that you see, both guys and girls, are like the best of the best, [the top] 1% in the world.” 

Campanario has always noted Starziski’s work ethic as a factor that will follow him beyond his life at Nonnewaug.

“He’s driven,” Campanario said. “He wants to succeed, [he] has goals, [and] he sets the bar high — definitely in golf and in everything else, he wants to succeed.”