HANOVER – The brothers were in South Carolina when they both zeroed in on the sweet golf shirt with alternating horizontal stripes of navy, a light royal and Columbia blue.
Although they are five years apart and Nate Choukas used to tower over Phin, a growth spurt has the younger brother looking almost eye-to-eye with the older and at first glance these days you might almost think they are twins. Of course, while there was a time when wandering around doing the twin thing might have been cute – if they really were twins, that is – it would be guaranteed to draw stares if the newly minted Trinity College grad and the brother on the cusp of his freshman year at Middlebury happened to be wandering down Main Street wearing identical golf shirts.
And so it seemed that only one of the Hanover brothers would be getting the coveted shirt until ding-ding-ding they came up with the perfect excuse to each buy their own.
“We were like, ‘Hey, maybe we can do a little matching thing at the Tommy Keane,’ ” Phin ex- plained.
Which is exactly what the brothers were doing Saturday while advancing to the semifinals of the invitational golf tournament, dressed smartly in matching shirts, shorts and Hanover Country Club hats with the signature ski jump logo.
Ah yes, the hats.
Phin, who used to pull a bucket hat over his head when he caddied for his brother in the TKI a few years back, pushed for that as well. But if you’ll excuse the pun, cooler heads prevailed when the brothers made their Keane debut as teammates.
The brothers Choukas have been talking about playing together in the event almost since Phin picked up the game at 6- or 7-years-old. But since becoming eligible Nate has played with former Hanover High School teammate Benny Hayes, who has has flown home from the Pacific Northwest several times to play in the TKI. Two summers ago the pair made it all the way to the championship match.
“Ben and I have had some pretty good runs in this tournament and we always wanted to win one together,” Nate said. “I obviously love to play with my brother but if Ben makes the effort to come from the West Coast, I have to honor that. He couldn’t come this year, and it’s Phin’s first year of being eligible to play so it all worked out.”
And it worked out pretty well.
After qualifying for the Championship fight with a 70 Friday they won their morning match Saturday 2&1 over former Dartmouth captains Jamie Wallace and Rob Henley, who had carded a 66 in qualifying. They followed with a 6&5 win over Jay Leonard and Tom Monahan in the afternoon.
Despite their age difference, the brothers have been playing together ever since the precocious Phin was identifying birdie pin placements when he was not much taller than his golf bag.
“It’s always been fun playing with him,” Nate said. “We’ve been playing golf together for a very long time. Like any kid who has game at that young an age he would get a little frustrated, but so would I. We had some times when we would get mad on the course, but playing with my brother? There’s nothing better.”
While friends teaming up in the Keane or another golf tournament sometimes have to feel each other out regarding strategy or how they react when one is struggling, that’s hardly the case with the Choukases.
“I realized at one point we were telling each other sorry after hitting bad shots,” Phin said. “But then it was, ‘Wait, there is no need to do that.’ ”
Added Nate: “There’s less of a filter with what you say with us playing together. But it’s never anything negative about the other person. It’s more like negative self talk, which I’m more comfortable doing in front of Phin than someone else. But at the same time, he is so good at talking me down that I think it is an advantage, honestly. No one is as good at putting me in a good frame of mind as Phin.”
If you were putting together a golf team, those around Hanover Country Club will tell you, it’s a tough call which brother you would pick first.
“I think it’s more of what do you need,” Nate suggested.
“If you need birdies,” Phin offered, “pick him. If you need pars, maybe you don’t pick him.”
And then both brothers laughed.
Nate, who who captained the Trinity golf team last year and is an alternative to the upcoming U.S. Amateur, is expecting to move to Florida in November to continue playing.
Phin, meanwhile, will be following his brother into the NESCAC golf ranks at Midd.
“Seeing the level of competition at his tournaments and getting to know the guys on his team, I knew it would be a good fit,” he said.
But don’t expect big brother to be rooting for Middlebury when his alma mater is on the other tee.
“I think in a few years maybe, but it will be hard to ever root against Trinity,” he said. “So I will never do that. But I will root for Phin.”
DIVOTS
The Choukas brothers will face the father-son team of Shane and Nick MacDonald in one semifinal after the MacDonald’s defeated qualifying medalists Tyler Silver and Matt Paradis, 1-up Saturday afternoon.
The other semifinal will pit the father-son team of Jim and Andrew Jankowski, 2-up winners over Torrey Viger and Matt Wood, against defending champions Scott Peters and Andy Hydorn. They moved on with a 2&1 win over Mak Lyford and Pat Pelletier.
