The Boys Golf Team has made history by being the first team sport in the school’s history to win an IHSA state championship. With hard work and dedication, the boys went above and beyond this season.
The team were only projected to get at best third but did what they knew they could to snatch the title. The Championship took place on October 18 and 19. Each player gave their best during the tournament. The players shot as follows: junior Jacob Armstrong 72 and 77 (9th), senior Chandler Creedon 75 and 77 (18th), sophomore Bryer Harris 77 and 78 (30th), junior Colt Bryson 74 and 79 (26th), senior Seth Cooper 83 and 82 (66th), freshman James Threadgill 82 and 89 (78th).
For the people who know the boys on the team, their success isn’t a shock. Whether they are out putting until dark on the course or practicing their swing any change they can get, they are always working. So it’s no wonder that their support squad was so big during the championship. Family, friends, coaches and school staff all lined up to cheer them on.
Tears and laughter were shared as sophomore Bryer Harris put the ball into the last hole to secure the win. “It was surreal. It just felt so crazy to me that if I just made a couple of pars coming down the stretch, I was going to be part of a state champion team,” Harris said.
The team wouldn’t be what it is without the seniors. Graduating this year are Chandler Creedon, Seth Cooper and Deklan Gage. The seniors will remember this moment and the team for the rest of their lives. “I am grateful to have these guys to help win a state championship,” Cooper said. “There is no better way to end my career, because of their help.” Not only will they remember it, but their younger teammates will as well. “Don’t put pressure on yourself,” Creedon said. Something that any young athlete needs to hear. As the seniors move on, they hope the boys can defend the title.
Family, friends, neighbors, teachers and citizens of Ottawa will forever be impressed. But most of all, Coach Keith Budzowski will always have a place in his heart for this moment. A team isn’t fully made without the coach. The love is mutual between him and his players. He pushes his players to work their hardest, which has led it all up to this. “These boys would spend countless hours each day on the golf course and practice range improving their skills that would eventually make them State Champions,” Budzowski said.
