Riverhead golfer Kujawski becomes third in school history to qualify for state championship

When the Riverhead boys golf season ended last year in the Suffolk County final four, the team celebrated the accomplishment afterward with bagels and coffee.

Everyone was there except freshman Wes Kujawski. He went to the practice green and got right back to working on things.

“I was mad that we didn’t win,” Kujawski said. “The only thing I wanted to do was go back and practice. I went to go practice my chipping.”

It was that hardworking mentality that propelled Kujawski from JV to a varsity playoff starter by the end of his freshman season. The sophomore opened this season in the No. 1 varsity spot.

He finished sixth at the Suffolk County individual championships on Oct. 26 to qualify for next spring’s New York State individual championships, becoming the third boy in Riverhead history to do so.

“It’s been a crazy year,” Kujawski said. “But I’m just taking it one shot at a time. Every shot matters and I try not to get too down on myself, ever.”

That mentality, however, wasn’t always with him. He was tested and pushed as he grew in the golf program. Kujawski made the JV team as a seventh grader and was brought up to varsity for his eighth-grade season.

“I don’t want to say my head got too big, but maybe it did,” Kujawski said. “I didn’t work as hard and practice as hard, and I didn’t progress the way I should have.”

After his play slipped, Kujawski was moved back to JV for his freshman season before realizing his potential and pushing himself forward.

“It was clear even when he was a 7th grader that Wes had a gift,” Riverhead head coach Steve Failla said. “When he went back down to JV, I figured it was an opportunity for him. It was either going to define him and make him, or it was going to break him. And I wasn’t sure how he was going to handle it. But I have to tell you, it made him.”

Kujawski never looked back after that demotion. Even with constant competition throughout this season, he held onto the No. 1 varsity spot.

“I knew he would compete for the top six spots this season,” Failla said. “But to take the No. 1 spot and defend it all season, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a testament to his hard work.”

Riverhead as a team made it to the final eight in the Suffolk County playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven years. The Blue Waves beat Smithtown West in the opening match and then upset seventh-seeded East Islip in the second round. The match came down to the team total, with Riverhead’s combined score two strokes lower than East Islip’s, earning the medal points and the victory.

The season ended in the final eight against No. 2 Sayville, and that didn’t sit well with Kujawski. He went right back to the practice green.

“We’re returning a lot of guys next year, so I’m looking forward to the rematch,” Kujawski said. “They knocked us out two years in a row, and I know they’re graduating a lot of seniors, so next year it’s our turn.”