By Tim Hartin
Sometimes timing is everything. Just ask Christian Cavaliere. Six years ago, the Katonah, N.Y., native was in the middle of his senior year at Boston College with a pursuit of professional golf on the horizon. Then COVID struck, launching Cavaliere along a series of life-altering twists and turns. Though the path hasn’t looked quite as expected, hard work and dedication have led to successes both on and off the golf course for the 27-year-old, who earned this year’s MGA Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year Award while continuing to grow his business, Tremont Sporting Co.
Cavaliere’s mom, Kelly, introduced both him and his dad, Gregg, to the game. The family joined Mahopac Golf and Beach Club in Putnam County, N.Y., when Cavaliere was around 10 years old and his passion and skill for the game took off. He won the Met Junior in 2016, then finished third and second, respectively on the MGA Honor Roll in back-to-back years, trailing Darin Goldstein and James Nicholas in 2018 and only Chris Gotterup in 2019.
Off the golf course Cavaliere always enjoyed exploring creative outlets, whether building different things at home or learning photography and videography. During high school, he interned with Greyson Clothiers and was, “enamored by everything happening at the business.” That experience and some sewing skills – also introduced to him by his mom – led Cavaliere to launch a new side project in college.
“I was able to take some of the knowledge I learned and translate it into making custom hats, first for my golf team at Boston College and then for a bunch of people around campus,” Cavaliere recalls. “I did it for other teams at the school and ultimately other schools around the Northeast.”
Cavaliere lost his senior season to Covid but kept his sights on playing professionally. He prepared by playing a national schedule in 2020 and planned to attend Notre Dame with his “Covid year” of NCAA eligibility beginning that fall. However, that plan fell through. With no certainty of what was next, Cavaliere opted for a move to Florida.
Over the next year, his “side” business – which also included headcovers and other custom leather goods – gained so much momentum that Cavaliere’s priorities shifted.
“I decided that the business had taken off to a point where I didn't want to give that up in hopes of playing professional golf,” he says. He also recalled uncertainties in professional golf and disappointments in the state of his game at the time as factors that led him to formalize the business.
With his decision made, 2022 provided fresh perspective.
“That was the first time I was able to play golf as just, ‘I'm going to do this because I love to compete,’” says Cavaliere, who now plays out of Hudson National Golf Club. “I only played in a few events that year, but I played really well. It might have been the weight off my shoulders of not having to do it as a career. I don’t know what it was, but that was really the year that jump started my love for golf again.”
Cavaliere finished fourth on the MGA’s Honor Roll in 2022, then finished second in both 2023 and 2024. He proved that his game remained among the best in not only the Met Area, but country, having qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open Championship at Los Angeles Country Club. Meanwhile, Tremont Sporting Co., outgrew its space in Palm Beach, Fla., on multiple occasions as he and his team expanded production capabilities.
The 2025 season was yet another whirlwind for Cavaliere while balancing high-level golf and the demands of a growing business, but he’s been more than up to the challenge.
“It’s the hardest thing I can imagine,” Cavaliere says. “I pass up on normal activities to make time to do both business and golf, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I absolutely love it. I’d like to think that I’ll look back on this period of my life and really be happy that I pushed myself and did as much as I could.”
He began the season with a special win in late March at the Azalea Invitational at the Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, S.C.
“I've never had so much family at a golf tournament before,” says Cavaliere, whose aunt has a home in the area. “It was everyone who's really important to me at one event. To be able to play as well as I did and to win in front of them was truly an incredible experience.”
Beyond having family around, the victory was also special in a breakthrough kind of way.
Cavaliere added top-10 finishes in both the Westchester Open Championship Presented by Poland Spring and the Ike before a big victory at Glen Oaks Club in the New York State Open, an event Cavaliere has played since his young-teen days.
He made a run to the semifinal of the Met Amateur, then finished tied for seventh in the Met Open to continue his strong season. Next, Cavaliere worked his way through a gauntlet of a bracket in the U.S Mid-Amateur Championship at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., in September, defeating former MGA Player of the Year and three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad and past U.S. Mid-Amateur runners-up Brad Nurski (2014) and Bobby Massa (2024) on his way to the semifinal round.
“I want those opportunities and those chances to put myself against some of the best players in the mid-am game right now and kind of prove to myself that I belong and can play against anyone on any given day,” Cavaliere says.
His performance in the U.S. Mid-Am was another confidence builder, but it also placed him in good position in the points standings for player of the year. Reigning MGA Player of the Year and good friend Matthew Lowe provided plenty of motivation for Cavaliere down the stretch with a full schedule of his own, but Cavaliere’s performances in The Farrell and MGA Mid-Amateur, making the semifinals and tying for 12th, respectively, secured the year-end award.
With the goal of MGA Player of the Year checked off, Cavaliere still has plenty of motivation to keep his game in top form. He’s still aiming to win an MGA major after several close calls and looks forward to more opportunities to test his game against the best in the country, but he’s also finding much more joy in the game thanks to his perspective on how things have turned out.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it,” he says. “I’m trying to take more solace that this is something fun and enjoyable that I get to do, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to compete at this level.”