What a week for Devon Prep golf! What started as a chance to prove they belonged, our golfers showed up when it mattered most this week. Nick started the week in his fourth straight individual finals. To make it four straight years is quite an accomplishment, but to win it and place in the Top 10 multiple times is incredible! Nick would be the first to admit he didn’t have his “A” game off the tee. Lucky for him, his irons, wedges, and putter are always in the top 1% of golfers in the field. Nick posted two solid rounds that gave him a final T9 position in this year’s competition. Not bad for someone that won it last year. Had he won this week, he would’ve been just the fourth golfer to win the state title twice in PA State Finals history. Two of those golfers to have accomplished this feat: Jim Furyk and Arnold Palmer. Great job starting the week off on a high note, Nick! It was fun to watch!

This summer, the team battled against 3A opponents that had plenty of fire power. At one point in the season, some of the guys asked if we were good enough to make the playoffs, but the hard schedule was part of the plan. The guys were assured that they were good enough, and to “trust the process” (sounds familiar). Well, that tough competition gave way to our guys showing up ready to take on the world this week! We started the morning at Toftrees, away from the noise and busy surroundings of the driving range at the PSU courses. Immediately, I saw the determined look in everyone’s eyes, none more intense than Andrew Carroccio…the kid came to play. Watching our guys take those early morning swings, it was evident that Wednesday belonged to the boys of Devon Prep. They were dialed.

As we have the whole season, we sent our captains out first to set the pace. It wasn’t the best start for any of our three leaders, but it was enough to steady the ship and set a pace.

Nick started his front nine with some shots that he wouldn’t normally hit, but as stated above, his irons, wedges, and putter were steady. He made the turn at +2, which easily could’ve been -2, but that’s golf. The back nine is where Nick “makes his money” so to speak. He played the final 9 holes at -4, and did it with an ease that only those 40+ year old golfers at your club dream about…that was the Nick this team needed to set the tone, and he delivered like he has so many times in his high school golf career.

Danny was the early leader of the day for DP. He plotted himself around the course and actually laughed/joked when I spoke with him. I knew he was going to play well, he was made for “the moment”. If you don’t know a lot about Danny, he’s extremely athletic and always focused on winning. He and I had several conversations leading up to this past week about competing, and my message was the same: “Danny, you’re more athletic than 98% of the field, if not more. Go be a better athlete than everyone and you’ll do just fine.” He took that and ran with it. Danny finished with his lowest competitive score ever! Made. For. The. Moment.

John’s first tee shot was not the usual 330 yard bomb that I’m used to seeing from him. I chalk this up to those first tee nerves. But like Danny, John is a freak athlete. He’s done everything from gymnastics, to football, and thankfully now golf. John steadied himself and settled into the round immediately after that. I’m sure everyone noticed, John was our workhorse this year, he was our low scorer almost all year and that experience helped him Wednesday. I’m so proud of his growth in golf, but also his maturity while being in competition. He has every swing a golfer could possibly want, and now his mind was able to match those physical strengths. John, you’re “the next guy” in this program, I’ve told you that—couldn’t be happier with how you played!

Chris Pullano started off his day by absolutely piping a tee shot, with a high draw right down the middle of the fairway. When I walked over to give him a five, he almost slapped the glove off my cold hand. I didn’t need the hand warmers after that one. Unfortunately, he hit his second shot into the bunker and it just plugged into the lip—what a bad break! With a 7 to start his round, any golfer would’ve been rattled, but by the time I saw him on the 6th hole, he was settled into the round and posted steady pars. Chris gained some valuable experience with his first ever state finals appearance and will undoubtedly be a major contributor for our team in the coming years. Chris has his best golf coming in the next couple of years!

Andrew, from the moment we got on site at PSU, had a look in his eyes I had never noticed before. I almost asked him if he was alright, but I could tell he was just locked into competing. Andrew, earlier this year was hitting a softer-flighted tee shot that wasn’t really giving him the distance he wanted—one visit with his grandfather and he was hitting a much longer tee shot with some heat. For those that don’t know, his grandfather is a well known, highly respected PGA Teaching Pro. He’s been around the game a long time and helped Andrew a week or two before the finals. Andrew also went from wedge shots coming in higher, to hitting low, piercing shots that sat by the pin almost every time. It was fun to watch him get up and down from everywhere during the round. The kid has grit! As the rounds were coming to an end, Andrew seemed to stay in his own world. The only blip Andrew had all day was a triple bogey on 15, which didn’t seem to bother him at all, especially considering he birdied the long par 3 16th hole immediately after (buried a 15ft putt)! Andrew, for what I think is the first time in his young golf life, found himself playing as our anchor in front of a gallery of about 30-40 people. Andrew bogeyed 17, which put our lead at 5 shots, and could’ve caused some doubt…but Andrew isn’t the normal 9th grade golfer. He stepped up to the 18th tee box (Par 5) and blasted a tee shot down the right side of the fairway, ending up just in the rough. The second shot just needed to be down the middle, nothing special…but again, Andrew isn’t the normal 9th grader. Andrew pulled a 3i and hit an absolutely perfect shot just short of the green. What freshman does that?! A 3i out of the rough?! He had ice in his veins!!! He got up, hit his wedge shot, and two-putted for a par to finish the round. I congratulated him and told him how impressed and proud I was, and he still had that look of wanting to take on the world. It wasn’t until he met his teammates just off the green and mentioned something about “Sheisty” that the whole team celebrated and knew that the championship was secured! What a moment for the guys!

Roll Tide!