West Hartford Golfer Earns Major State Honor ... Again

Connecticut State Golf Association

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A West Hartford resident's prowess on the links has been rewarded again with one of the state's more prestigious amateur golfing honors.

For the fourth straight year and the sixth time in his career, Cody Paladino has won the Connecticut State Golf Association's Dick Tettelbach Player of the Year award.

“It is something that I am incredibly proud of,” Paladino said. “The CSGA is such an important part of my life. I think as I am getting older, I am realizing how important the CSGA is to me. I have been getting more involved with it and growing deeper relationships with people on the staff and the volunteers. So, for me to be someone that carries that title is very rewarding but also makes me appreciate being a part of the CSGA.”

On the course Paladino shined in CSGA events, reaching the finals of the Connecticut Amateur, finishing second at the Connecticut Mid-Amateur while also finishing as the low amateur at the Connecticut Open.

On the national stage, Paladino returned to the U.S. Amateur for the first time since 2009 while also medaling at the U.S. Open Local Qualifying and earning a spot in his third straight U.S. Mid-Amateur.

“For me, my most memorable would probably be qualifying for the U.S Amateur again,” said Paladino a member at Hartford Golf Club. “It was a huge goal of mine and the last two years I had been the first alternate so of all the moments making it in the playoff was probably the most meaningful of the season.”

What made that moment and all of his on-course success in 2023 even more memorable was what happened off the course.

In early November 2022 Paladino and his wife Anna welcomed their first child, Carter, and with it all the wonderful life-changing experiences.

“(Sharing these moments with Carter) is kind of surreal, to be honest,” Paladino said. “Sometimes I still feel like I am still working on the early stages of my golf career. It has crossed my mind that I still have so much further to go with my golf journey and I am going to break out soon and I just have to keep going. Then you are standing there and you are holding a baby in your arms and you realize that you aren’t 23-24 and at the beginning of your golf journey. I am more maybe in the middle. So, it kind of makes me look at things a little differently.”

For more information on Paladino's award, click on this link.