Learning to Succeed On The Golf Course and In Life

At first blush, Canton High junior Nikki Liucci has all the trappings of a successful golfer.

Her father and her neighbor built several holes in their adjoining back yards, which enable Liucci to practice daily, even during the winter months, to hone her skills.

What’s more, she has two parents who eagerly support their soft-spoken daughter in her endeavors on the golf course, including providing her with a membership at Tower Ridge Golf Club.

So it’s not altogether surprising that Liucci became the first Canton High girls golfer in the four-year history of the varsity program to earn All-State honors.

She did so by shooting 91, good enough for a 12th place finish out of a field of 83, at the state tournament at the Orange Hill Country Club on June 7.

The performance capped a terrific season during which she earned medalist honors in six of her team’s 16 regular-season matches, which included a 42 that ended Cheshire High Andra Frappier’s eight-match medalist streak on May 5 at Tunxis Plantation in Farmington (more on that later).

Liucci was also named to the first-team All-Southern Connecticut Girls Golf League and the MVP of the Canton High golf team.

It’s the kind of season that, according to head coach John Manners, gives the nascent Canton girls golf team – which has played at the varsity level for just four years – credibility.

While the golf team qualified for the state tournament in its first three years, it was lacking that one breakout individual performance until Liucci’s this year.

“When she first came in her freshman year, the first match she played she shot a 45,” said Manners. “I said, ‘This is really the building block and she’s just a freshman.’ We’re a small school, and this gives the program more of an identity.”

Manners said that the level of commitment that her family has made to Nikki is unusual for a girls golfer.

But before chalking up Liucci’s success to the privileges she enjoys, consider the obstacles she faces that others don’t have to clear to just make it to the first tee.

Liucci is an epileptic who has suffered grand mal seizures, which feature loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions, for the last four years.

The daily anti-seizure medication she takes to control the condition has some pretty nasty side effects, not least of which is the ravaging of her short-term memory.

According to Nikki’s mother, Midori, it takes Nikki longer to complete her schoolwork than what’s considered normal.

Liucci has had a history teacher question why she couldn’t recall something rudimentary that she learned her freshman year of high school.

“It’s all gone,” Midori said. “The short-term memory, the planning functions. Gone.”

Nikki’s concentration, perhaps the most important trait for a golfer to be successful, is not always there, either, Midori said.

The seizures have actually increased in number recently, most likely brought on by the stress of being a junior in high school.

But it’s not just golf that’s affected. One of the toughest things for Nikki to deal with is not being able to drive. The state of Connecticut requires that a person must be seizure-free for three months before he or she can get behind the wheel, according to Midori.

Golf, according to Midori, actually holds the seizures in abeyance.

So how does a 16-year old girl handle such a life-altering condition?

“It’s just a fact of life,” Nikki said. “I just deal with it.”

Perhaps, but dealing with the loss of a close friend and a mentor generally isn’t a fact of life to a teenager.

Yet Liucci found herself mourning the death of Paul Kalasnik, her study hall teacher at Canton High who had taken a shine to Nikki after learning of her epilepsy.

“He would always say ‘Good job,’ and ask me how I was doing with golf,” Nikki said. “He always wanted me to do well.”

Kalasnik, who was afflicted with cancer, was going to write Nikki a recommendation describing her perseverance despite her difficult circumstances after he had surgery in April.

He passed away on April 19.

Liucci’s perseverance was tested just a few weeks later, on May 5 at Tunxis Plantation, when she found herself standing over a three-foot putt, which, if she made it, would place her ahead of Frappier and Farmington’s Jenn Whaley, two of the best girls golfers in the state.

Liucci calmly sank that putt, after which she recalled her former teacher.

“It’s been a tough year,” Nikki said.

Manners, for his part, has set the bar even higher for Nikki next year; he wants Nikki to finish in the top seven at the state tournament next year, which would qualify her for New Englands.

But, while accolades and the individual recognition are nice in the short term, her parents are looking at something a bit broader when it comes to golf.

“It’s important that she succeeds in this,” Midori said. “It’s going to help her succeed in life.”