The Brophy golf squad shot even-par as a team on Wednesday against Sunrise Mountain and Pinnacle, giving the Broncos another nine-hole tournament victory. 

The Broncos have seven first-place finishes out of eight nine-hole matches played. With one more left, as well as one more invitational tournament still to play, the young men look to use this match as a launchpad into the postseason.

“My hope moving forward is that we shake off some rust and that everybody starts playing to their potential,” coach Jon Shores said after the tournament. “I want them to make sure that their game is sharp and ready.”

After a rough ninth hole by all Brophy golfers, Shores was frustrated about the team's efforts to close out a match, stressing that if they couldn’t hone their skills on the final hole of a tournament, it could be the difference between a win and loss.

Sophomore Brayden Bozak was 2-under-par through the eighth hole of the course when a miss-hit tee shot sent his ball out of bounds. After taking the 2-stroke penalty, Bozak finished even-par on the day, frustrated with the performance on the final hole.

“The physical aspect is good,” Bozark said. “I need to focus more on the mental aspect … especially when I’m playing well.”

Although Bozark was hard on himself after the game, he was determined to stay humble and competitive around his teammates. 

One of the big aspects surrounding Shores’ assessment of talent during this match was the ability for one of his golfers to separate himself from his teammates in terms of score. 

While this may seem like just another win on the stat sheet, the young men at Brophy see it as a competition between their peers, this tournament serving as a qualifier to join the state championship squad.

Shores is very confident that all of the boys on the 10-man roster can be the golfer they want to be, and that all 10 of them can be integrated into the starting lineup. It's a question of who wants it more.

“I want them to support each other … but I also want them to demolish their teammate,” Shores said. 

Since four of the five boys shot even-par, Shores will have a difficult choice filling out the remainder of his state championship golf squad come postseason. One of them, senior Pierce Braun, remained humble about his round.

“Whether I’m on the state team or not on the state team I’m hoping that we will come out on top,” Braun said.

It’s the competitive drive and uplifting nature that makes the Brophy golf team so successful during the regular season. Shores believes that if his boys have the will to beat their teammates in and out of practice, then they will have the tools to motivate themselves and beat other teams.