(March 13, 2021) – In 2017 Ben Conroy regained his amateur status. Since then he has been nothing short of a force in CSGA events. He picked up his first CSGA win at the 2018 Connecticut Amateur and has since followed that victory up with two wins at the Connecticut Mid-Amateur, first in 2018 and then again in 2020. Conroy capped his first year as an amateur as the Dick Tettelbach Player of the Year.
A self-described late bloomer to the junior scene, Conroy eventually played his way onto the University of Delaware golf team for the final two years of his college career. After college Conroy wanted to stay in the game and began working as a teaching professional while still competing. In 2013 he played in the Connecticut Open at Torrington Country Club and although he lost in a playoff that performance convinced Conroy it was time to chase his professional golf dreams.
Throughout our conversation, we talk about his time as a professional golfer, what his hobbies are off the course, his young family, and how he is getting ready for the 2021 season.
How did you start playing golf?
I played a little bit growing up but when I really started to get into it, I had a good buddy of mine who was on my Little League team and our dads were friends and they kind of got together and said let's get Ben and my friend, Cam Bradley, junior memberships over at Lyman Orchards for the summer. I think I was 12 and he had a swimming pool and either his mom or my mom would grab both of us almost every day and around nine or 10 in the morning and we would go over to Lyman and sometimes we would play seven-holes, sometimes we played nine-holes, sometimes we played 14-holes, and we would just go over to the golf course at Lyman and play for a few hours and then we would go over and hang out at his pool after lunchtime. Those were some pretty good summers when you are 12 or 13-years-old.
So we were competitors and gamers and that kind of thing so we always played a match and we both started to get pretty good and that is what led me to want to play in high school and it kind of went from there.
Outside of golf what are your hobbies?
Family takes up a lot of it right now and it is awesome. My son is one and a half and is just a blast. But I like to play hockey, I had a hockey league that just started up again and anything outside to get exercise. My grandparents have a farm nearby and we like to make maple syrup in the spring so we have been doing that on the weekends. I grew up a musician too so I like to play the piano. I find that meditative.
