By Michael Moroney ’13
THE ROUNDUP
After being a member of the Brophy golf team since his freshman year, Blake Toolan ’13 is at the center of a young core for the 2011 team.
“Blake is definitely one of the best on the team,” said teammate Tyler Kertson ’13. “He has gotten much better since he was a freshman and is now a leader for the other players.”
Toolan and teammate Ryan Theisen ’13 have been flip-flopping position as the scoring leaders for this year’s Brophy team.
“Our scoring averages are right around the same,” Toolan said. “It has changed back and forth more times than I can count.”
Toolan led the Brophy team to a sixth-place finish at the Hamilton Antigua National Invitational Sept. 9-10. He posted a cumulative score of 151 over 36 holes to place 12th overall in the tournament and first for the Broncos.
“It wasn’t our best tournament as a team, but he helped keep us in contention,” Kertson said.
The Brophy team has started the 2011 season with a 7-0-1 record and Toolan has been a contributing member in multiple winning efforts.
For example, he managed a score of 38 to help Brophy to a 10 stroke win over Desert Ridge, Mountain Pointe and Basha in the Broncos first match of the season. Also, he maintained par with a score of 36 in a Sept. 15 win against Mountain Ridge and Hamilton.
When the school golf season is not going on, Toolan participates in many amateur tournaments as part of the American Junior Golf Association and Junior Golf Association of Arizona.
In the spring, Toolan finished second in the Thunderbird Invitational at Papago Golf Course and also finished tied for 11th in the Heather Farr Classic, a national tournament, hosted at Longbow Golf Club.
He continued his success through the summer by qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Bremerton, Wash. Also, he was selected to join Team Arizona at the Junior America’s Cup in Denver, Colo.
“I was very fortunate to play some really good golf (in the summer) and was hoping to carry that momentum into this season,” Toolan said.
Once he graduates, Toolan will continue to play golf in college, but he is still unsure of where that will be.
“I have a lot of options,” he said. “I am not going to rush into anything.”