Tyler Bender is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Campo Verde for AZPreps365.com

 

It’s another hot day in October. Campo Verde Boys Golf head coach Shawn Dukes pulls up to Springfield Golf Club. His team arrives shortly after him.

The start of a typical practice day has already begun. Same old lies, same old greens, same old Dukes.

Dukes has been the head coach for three years. During his time in the program, he has seen his team go from almost dead last in the state to having at least one golfer qualify for state for the past two years. And he’s done it all without even teaching the kids golf.

Dukes is not a golfer. In fact, he has been the head baseball coach at Campo Verde since it opened up in 2009. Dukes was never a golfer, not even during his childhood years, where he said he played baseball, football, and even wrestled a bit.

So why is he coaching golf?

Because after winning the Divison II state championship in 2015 Campo Verde moved up to Division I in 2016 and had its worst season in program history. Dukes said most of the coaches who led the ‘15 team were parents of kids in the program and once they and their kids moved, the program suffered and needed a head coach.

Dukes stepped into the head coaching position in 2017 to fill the void.

“I knew a bunch of the golf kids, and they were just great kids,” Dukes said. “So I was like, ‘I’ll do it.’”

While Dukes is unable to teach the kids golf, he is able to teach them life lessons. Dukes prides himself on teaching the kids that at the end of the day, being a good human being is better than being a good golfer.

“I’ve always been someone who is involved with family, ” Dukes said. “My family has always been a huge part of my life. There were six kids in my family. I can’t remember an event that my parents weren’t at for anyone of us. A lot of these kids don’t have that in their life right now, and we try to bring that.”

So how do the kids learn golf? That’s where assistant coach Nick Macaluso comes in.

“I’ve been around golf since I was two years old.,” Macaluso said. “It’s been my entire life. I’ve played in high school and done all of that as well.” 

Where Dukes lacks the knowledge of the game, Macaluso makes up for it. But that doesn’t mean Dukes just stands there and preaches to the kids all day. Dukes deals a lot with the administration side of things; something you would expect that of a pro team’s front office to handle.

“He’s primarily more on the administrative side,” Macaluso said. “He coordinates with the teachers and does all the grade checks. He answers our ‘lineup’ for matches and coordinates the matches. He’s the first one there for practices and our matches. So he’s a big reason that we are able to come out here and do this every day, no doubt about it.”

But that doesn’t mean that Dukes isn’t entirely involved with practice and helping the kids improve.

“We talk to them all the time,” Dukes said. “Everyone hits a bad shot, even the pros hit a bad shot. But what are you going to do to work for your next shot? We talk about those types of things all the time with the kids.”

The morale of the team does not seem to be affected by Dukes’ lack of knowledge for the game. Sophomore Kade Hogan said that his time under Dukes has been enjoyable.

“It’s actually really fun,” Hogan said. “He’s taught me all these lessons through life. He said he’s been teaching for 32 years, so he knows how to deal with teenagers.”

Zach Mumman, a junior and the team's top golfer, is ranked in the top 15 for golfers in the state. Mumman, who has been with the program for three years, said that he recognizes the fact that Dukes isn’t just focused on the golf team, but on the school as a whole.

Dukes said he wants to retire after this season and end 30-plus years of teaching. He already has retired from his position as Campo Verde’s head baseball coach.