CROMWELL, Conn. – In another era, nothing about Andrew Svoboda’s recent schedule would have made Gene Sarazen the least bit curious. Heck, The Squire himself might have fitted himself for the sort of stretch of golf that Svoboda has had.

Win the Long Island Open on June 11. Return to a teaching job at Engineers CC in Roslyn Harbor, N.Y. Get through a Monday qualifier for the Travelers Championship on June 21. Play four rounds at TPC River Highlands, finish tied for 61st at 1-under 279, earn $16,206, then ask one of the players with whom you tied if he’d mind posing for a picture.

“Sure, let’s do it,” said Phil Mickelson, who stood between Svoboda and Richie DePaul, the drummer and music director for one of New York City’s longest-running acts, Decade of Soul.

Of course, when he’s not at his night job, you can find DePaul strapping Svoboda’s golf bag over his shoulder and trudging along fairway after fairway, a loyal friend and confidant who is quick to tell you that his guy captured an impressive triple crown in 2018 -- New York State Open, Met Open, Long Island Open -- and might just do it again this year.

For a guy who has played to packed crowds on Broadway, DePaul seems to get more amped to tell you he is sharing in his good friend’s dream.

Strike that. It was Svoboda’s dream. Not so much anymore.

“I kind of shifted three years ago from wanting to be a player to wanting more job security,” said Svoboda, who works at Engineers most of the year, then will be at Pine Tree GC in Boynton Beach, Fla., in the winter.

“I’m trying to get more well-rounded. I want to be a head pro someday but right now it’s tough. I lost $40,000 playing (the Korn Ferry Tour) in 2017 when I finished 94th on the money list (and earned $56,394).

“That Tour’s expensive to play. People don’t realize that. I’m still chasing my dream, but I don’t want to lose that kind of money.”

He’s 41 now and if Svoboda is likely beyond the proverbial crossroads, he seems content with that. He had his PGA Tour card for three years, 2013-15, and came painstakingly close to winning the Zurich Classic seven years ago, finishing tied for second, two behind Seung-Yul Noh.

“Yeah, I played well. Almost,” shrugged Svoboda, who has mostly played the Korn Ferry Tour since ’16. He’s won three times at that level and still has enough status out there to give it a go. But as he gets older and the opposition gets younger, the grind becomes tougher and tougher.

He’ll still chase the PGA Tour Monday qualifiers, because . . . well, it’s what he’s always done since turning pro in 2004 after playing four years at St. John’s for coach Frank Darby and mentoring under the legendary Winged Foot head pro, Tom Nierporte.

“Probably 10 Mondays a year for what, 17 years?” The sum seemed to hang in Svoboda’s head and make him realize just how long the road has been.

“He’s been at it a while and he’s in limbo,” said Darby, noting that Svoboda wins a good share of the best tournaments in which he plays (Met Open, Long Island Open, New York State Open), but never quite got over the next hurdle.

“He’s really, really good and while some people might think he’s a grumpy old guy, he isn’t. When I used to recruit kids to St. John’s, kids I knew would want to play pro golf, I would send them to talk to Andy.

“He was such a magnet for my St. John’s program.”

In another era, Svoboda’s recent stretch – Long Island Open to Monday qualifier to 72 holes at Travelers to lessons at Engineers – would have been commonplace. Sarazen in 1935, for instance, won a little gathering in Augusta called the Masters, then meandered up the east coast playing exhibitions.

He then won the Massachusetts Open as a tune-up to the U.S. Open, though it didn’t work out that way. Sarazen finished eighth at mighty Oakmont. No worries; Sarazen had his eyes set on the following week when he would return home to his beloved Met Section.

Once home, The Squire won something called the Long Island Invitational.

Sort of like Svoboda . . . minus the photo of Mickelson, of course.