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HARTFORD COURANT: POST'S DORSO: FROM RECRUIT TO COACH

May 9, 2007

By TOM YANTZ, Hartford Courant Staff Writer

Tommy Dorso Jr. was the first recruit for the fledgling Post University golf team in 2003-04.

"I was at St. Peter's, but I wasn't happy there and I was looking to transfer," he said. "Coach [Pete Stevens] kept calling me. So I decided to come back home."

Today Dorso, a graduate of Crosby High-Waterbury, is the interim coach at Post, located in Waterbury. And he hopes Stevens will be home soon, too.

"Coach is a U.S. Army Ranger and has been in Iraq since August," Dorso said. "He's in a mobile unit and is in harm's way."

Dorso, who graduated from Post in 2006, has been exchanging e-mails to keep Stevens up to date on the team.

Stevens must be proud because the Eagles, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champions, are playing in the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional in Wheeling, W.Va. They start the final round today in seventh place (655) in the eight-team field. Sophomore Lloyd Notley, who was tied for medalist honors after the first round at 4-over 75, is tied for third (75-79-154) in the individual competition.

Notley is part of a European base on the team. He's from England and is joined by senior Jamie Blake (Scotland), freshman Josh Ralton (England), junior Calum Malcolm (Scotland) and freshman Lee Wanklyn (England).

"Getting players to come over has started rolling a bit, you know with Jaime knowing some of the guys over there," Dorso said.

Dorso, who was the first Post player to participate in an NCAA golf tournament as an individual in 2004, laughed and said maybe the nasty spring weather made Blake and company feel more at home.

"We were at a huge disadvantage early with the weather, compared to other teams we play," Dorso said. "But we've got some good, tough competitors and we came back."

The Eagles won their second consecutive CACC title to earn a spot in the NCAA Northeast Regional at the 7,001-yard Speidel Golf Club's Jones Course.

"Our team has come so far in a few years," Dorso said. "I was on golf scholarship at St. Peter's, but it wasn't working out. So I thought I'd come back and maybe go to the UConn branch in Waterbury. Then Coach called me. I knew that he was trying to start a golf team [in 2003-04]. It was the right choice for me to go to Post."

Dorso emphasizes he's an interim coach.

"It was a little shaky this fall without Coach," Dorso said. "I didn't know how the recruits and past players would react, or what their expectations were. But we've jelled and are in the NCAAs.

"We know where Coach is, isn't the best place in the world right now, but we hope every time he hears about his team, it'll make him feel better."