The high school golf season wrapped last week with the local squad managing an 18-13 showing over the past few months of competition.

Head coach Willie Dudley had a pretty large roster on his hands this past season, but many of this year’s athletes were new to the sport of golf. Still, as the team gained experience, Dudley added that the scores started to show some positive results for all of that hard work.

“We started the season slow,” Dudley said. “As the season went on, the golfers played better and better. We ended up shooting our best score on the last week of competition.”

Dudley said he enjoyed this season, as well as the squad that helped make it a success.

“Great group of student athletes that enjoyed golfing, enjoyed each other and developed great friendships,” he continued. “The golfers represented Fountain Hills High School and the community well.”

Looking back over the season, Dudley said he found some strong leadership in one of his seniors, Malcolm Bernabei.

“[He] was a terrific asset to the program,” Dudley said. “He added stability, experience and maturity with his leadership this season.”

Dudley said that he was happy to see the Falcons progress on a weekly basis, with their swings, chipping and putting growing more solid as the season progressed. In the offseason, he hopes to see the growth continue, as he’s encouraging his athletes to get involved in summer AZJGA tournaments, an experience he said would be invaluable to the local athletes. Add that extra practice to an already large squad, and the Falcons should be a team to watch in 2017.

“We will be returning 11 golfers next year; most of them were sophomores this season,” Dudley said. “They are all good athletes with good swings. After competing this summer in AZJGA tournaments, we can expect to be very competitive next season.”

Of course, Dudley said none of this would have been possible without the support of local golf courses, who allowed the Falcons to practice and host matches on a weekly basis. Dudley said he would like to thank Jason Looman of Desert Canyon Golf Club, Chris Morrison of FireRock Country Club, Wes Neal of SunRidge Canyon Golf Club, Steve Nichols of Eagle Mountain Golf Club and Eric Dettman of We-Ko-Pa Golf Club for being so kind and hospitable this season.

And to his athletes, Dudley also offered his thanks for the past season.

“At their coach, I really enjoyed being around the golfers,” he said. “They are a very good group of student athletes.”