The Fountain Hills High School golf team wrapped up its regular season last week. The Falcons were close but were ultimately left outside of the state championship team competition. Junior Ethan Schafer, ranked No. 35 in the league, represented the Falcons as an individual in the championship match after press time this past Monday and Tuesday, May 8-9.

Schafer and head coach Bob Buczek headed down to Tucson for the state competition. The Falcons spent their last week in a four-team competition last Tuesday, May 2, and they played against 16 other teams in the Metro Invitational Golf Tournament to end the season this past weekend.

“We were just short of making state,” junior Tom Tiebert said. “Close – closer than last year – so we improved slightly but I think this year was really great overall.”

Last Tuesday, the Falcons took second place and only fell to a top-five ranked team, Tempe Prep. It was the third time the Falcons played the top-ranked Knights this season, and the Falcons also played against the top three teams in the state at the Metro Invitational tournament.

The Falcons finished 19th out of 63 teams in the state, four places better than last season, and four places away from making state. The Falcons had several newcomers join this year, including junior Jaxson Butcher and sophomore Shannon Breen, and they had great outings to end the season.

“Jaxson was another huge piece,” Tiebert said. “He shot a great round. I think it was 41. I think that was his best of the season, so that was really cool to see, and then Shannon played. She shot a 10 over 46, which was also an incredible improvement from the last matches that she had played.”

Butcher actually led the team to a second place finish at Kokopelli Golf Course last Tuesday. There have been a couple of matches throughout the year when someone besides Schafer led the team, and last Saturday was no different. Freshman Riley Murdock impressed his teammates by shooting one stroke better than Schafer on the day, and only one stroke more than Schafer over both days.

“Riley, yesterday, shot 78, which is unbelievable,” Tiebert said. “I don’t know how he put that together, but he pulled that out of nowhere…This year, Ethan could shoot a good round in the 70s just as much as Riley can, apparently. Even though Riley’s less consistent at doing it, we all still have the ability to step up and play really good golf.”

Tiebert said he played one of his best rounds of the season on Friday at the Metro Invitational, and he hit 83. His competitive side came out when he was matched with the best teams in the state and grouped with the No. 1 rated player and a University of New Mexico commit.

The Falcons were matched with other teams on Saturday and played in a shotgun start. All 17 teams in the tournament started at the same time, and it was a slower day of golf than normal for the Falcons. The Falcons placed 10th overall after all 36 holes.

The top 15 teams in the state advanced to the postseason this year, and the Falcons were just outside the cut. They spent the majority of the season ranked No. 16, and they are motivated to make state next year.

The Falcons aren’t losing anybody to graduation, and they will have four returning seniors next year. Schafer, Tiebert and junior Ben West will all be in their fourth year on the team, and Butcher will have a full year of experience under his belt.

Sophomore Savannah Miller built on her freshman year experience, and Breen, Murdock, sophomore Zoe Kohoutek and freshmen Adam Oberg and Tegan Wolff all spent their first year with the program.

Bob and Angie Buczek coach the middle and high school teams, and they have a star waiting to shine at the high school level. Eighth grader Savannah Simonson is the reigning middle school girls individual champion, and the future is bright for Falcon golf.

“We have the whole summer, and we’ve all decided that we want to dedicate ourselves to golf,” Tiebert said. “With Savannah coming up from middle school, there’s obviously going to be more competition on the team. I think more competition is just going to make us better players, force us to practice more and push each other to be better.”

The Falcons received community support from local golf courses by allowing the team to practice and compete, and Desert Canyon even provided new golf bags for the team. Tiebert extended gratitude from him and his team to the courses, as well as their coaches, Bob and Angie Buczek, for another great season in the books.