The Kingswood-Oxford Invitational (KIT) is the culmination of the golf season for many prep schools in New England. This year's edition had 24 teams and 125 players competing at Gillette Ridge in Bloomfield, Connecticut. In the end, Hamden Hall edged out Exeter by three shots. Hamden Hall sophomore North Chery fired an even-par 72 to capture medalist honors.
The plethora of talented players was challenged by the new host course. With record low scoring across the region in prep school matches, it seemed a surprise no player broke par and no team shot lower than Hamden Hall's 385 (77 average for the five counting scores). A least 8-10 teams typically record a score of 400 or less. This year, only the top three cracked that barrier. Additionally, 25 of the 125 competitors broke 80. That's a testament to Gillette Ridge's difficulty, laid out by Arnold Palmer to test players' ability throughout the bag with forced carries, deep bunkers, and fast greens.
"Gillette was set up to play as hard as humanly possible," Hamden Hall coach Keith Kaliszewski said.
