The Fountain Hills High School golf team came in second place in both their matches last week. The Falcons finished one stroke behind the winning team on Wednesday, March 29, and they have placed second in all five of their matches so far this season.

“We’re so close to winning an overall match,” head coach Bob Buczek said. “It’s just one or two holes that someone messes up, we’ve got to learn to control that, otherwise we would’ve won maybe three of the matches. We’re really close to getting there, and I think as we keep practicing and playing, we’re going to start seeing those results really fast now. I think the team has come together really well.”

The Falcons hosted Rancho Solano Prep, San Tan Charter and Pima at Desert Canyon Golf Course in their first match last week. Rancho Solano took first place, but junior Ethan Schafer was the overall individual winner.

The Falcons are ranked No. 17, but Buczek anticipates that will change in another week. The Falcons will play their sixth and seventh matches this week, and then they’ll start only counting their seven best scores for state qualification.

Buczek honors the athletes that finish first and second on the team by automatically putting them in the line up for the next match. The competition for three through five can be fierce, and Buczek has to think about alternatives too.

“I need players to have seven matches under their belt to go to state if we make it to state as a team,” Buczek said. “You take five players, and you can have two alternates also go just in case something happens, but all seven would have to have seven matches under their belt in order to qualify for state.”

Sophomore Shannon Breen played her second match ever in Tempe last Thursday, March 30. She finished fifth on the team but was eight strokes ahead of her previous best outing.

Breen’s improvement was impressive to Buczek because of the adverse weather conditions the Falcons faced last Thursday. He said it was rainy and cold, and that the wind pushed balls around and affected their shot selections.

Despite the weather, Buczek said everyone played well and some played better than the day before. Breen finished at 48, freshman Riley Murdock finished at 43, and juniors Jaxson Butcher and Tom Tiebert tied at 41. Schafer finished second overall at 36.

Schafer has been leading the team like Buczek expected, and Tiebert has been a starter in each lineup as well. Freshman Adam Oberg played on Buczek’s middle school team last year and made a start at home last Wednesday.

“Overall, it’s just a couple of new players on the team that really help,” Buczek said. “Jaxson, Riley, and Shannon are new to the golf program. We got three people that came out of nowhere and are making an impact on the team.”

The Falcons have a month until the state tournament, and seven more matches to tune up and qualify at until then. Buczek said the goals for this week are to work on their 150 and in game, and lag putting.

The Falcons have two road matches this week. They traveled to Silverado Golf Club yesterday, Tuesday, April 4, to face Rancho Solano Prep again, Veritas Prep and Cicero Prep. Tomorrow, Thursday, April 6, the Falcons travel to the Ahwatukee Country Club where they will face Gilbert Christian, Northwest Christian and Horizon Honors.