On September 19, the Riverside Brookfield High School boys golf team won the Metro Suburban Conference (MSC) championship. Then, on September 27, senior Joey Garvey, juniors Josh Udelson and Ben O’Brien, and sophomore Connor Dominick advanced to sectionals after shooting a 4th place score 322 at regionals.
The conference team scored 342, defeating host Westmont and Elmwood Park at Sanctuary Golf Course in New Lenox. They were led by Udelson’s 83, Garvey’s 87, junior Brady McCallum’s 87, Dominick’s 91, junior Cal Milchhoefer’s 95, and O’Brien’s 95. Udelson earned 3rd place, Garvey and McCallum tied for 4th, and Dominick scored 6th. Garvey was named co-MVP of the MSC.
“I really appreciate it a lot, and it paid off to have that for all the hard work I put in. It has a good ring to it,” Garvey said. “It took perseverance through every match this year.”
Garvey has been working hard all offseason, practicing as much as he could and stressing the mental side of the game. Mentality can really be what makes the difference in a golf match. Garvey emphasized the importance of being locked in to avoid being limited by yourself.
“It took a lot of hard work this offseason, trying to play golf as much as I could, and working on every asset of my game,” Garvey said. “Just going to the range and just trying to play as much as I can, in addition to working on the mental side of the game because golf is such a mental battle.”
Garvey is the senior leader of the team. The team is very junior heavy, as four of the top six conference golfers are juniors. The team relies on Garvey to provide guidance to the rest of the team.
“Joey Garvey, he’s our senior, he’s helped with leadership and stuff like that,” Dominick said. “It’s a good experience for our team. We all have a close bond.”
Even through bad weather, rain, and wind gusts on the day of conference, the team managed to stay composed and play through it on the par-72 course.
“It was pouring. All the grips were wet, so you had to be prepared with rain gear, rain gloves, and stuff like that,” Dominick said.
The locker room atmosphere for the team has improved over the course of the season. In such a mentally challenging game, being close to your teammates always helps the team performance.
“We’ve gotten closer with each other, and we’ve had fun playing with each other. I think we’ve all grown to love the game more and grown as a group,” Garvey said.
A key part of success in the future is maintaining the team’s energy and connection. Sectionals are on October 2, and it’s important to keep a sense of family, even carrying through into next season.
“I’m looking forward to how our team can succeed. We have a young team, and I think next year we’ll be even better,” Dominick said.
