The Fountain Hills High School golf season ended recently, with senior Alex Schafer finishing 16th at State on May 10, and the whole team taking first place in the Tee Up for Kids Big Brother Big Sister tournament at Top Golf on May 22.

The Falcons finished the season ranked 23rd out of 64 teams in Arizona. Over the course of the season, head coach Bob Buczek found different and exciting ways for the players to practice multiple aspects of their game. Buczek said he wanted to make it an enjoyable experience for his team and didn’t want members to practice the same stroke thousands of times.

Buczek is set on building up the golf program in Fountain Hills, not just the team. Neither the middle school nor high school had a golf coach at the beginning of the school year, but after his wife and middle school counselor Angie Buczek heard they were going to cancel the team, they both volunteered to coach.

“A lot of people didn’t think that there was a golf team, because they were going to cancel the program,” Bob Buczek said. “So, with middle school especially, I came on and we didn’t even have a practice. We went straight to a match with kids.”

Buczek had more time ahead of the high school season to learn who his players were and what their skill sets were. The Falcons only had seven players, but he saw them grow closer over the season. In particular, he noticed that senior Brendan Muhs and sophomore Tom Tiebert developed a great friendship, driving together and spending weekends together at the golf courses.

Muhs and Schafer are the only two graduating seniors, but Buczek is encouraging them to come back and share their stories and play with future Falcons. That is one way Buczek hopes to build the program, and another is offseason activities like the Big Brother Big Sister tournament, with the Buczeks covering the entry cost for the team.

Buczek called it heartwarming to see his impact on the golfers. Buczek said all the players had to do was text or call him, and he would join them for a weekend practice. At the end of the season banquet, Buczek handed out free rounds of golf for this summer, and all the players gave Angie a hug.

There were no juniors on the team this year, so rising juniors Ethan Schafer, Benjamin West and Tiebert will be the oldest returning players. Schafer was close to joining his older brother at state this year, and Buczek thinks he’s on his way to being a top golfer.

“Ethan is already a really good golfer, he’s only getting better,” Buczek said. “I do believe that Ethan will be leading the team next year.”

“Tom, he improved over the year, and I know he plans to be playing all summer long,” Buczek continued. “So, I do think he’ll be one of those key people next year, and I know we have a couple really good middle school kids coming up, too.”

Buczek said he has at least three incoming freshmen that will play next season. They’ll add to the underclassmen ranks with rising sophomores Meg Milashoski and Savannah Miller.

Miller received the Most Improved award at the banquet, and according to Buczek, they used her score for the last three matches.

The Falcons do not have a large budget, so they relied heavily on community support. From local golf courses allowing the teams to use their courses, to local clubs and restaurants sponsoring and donating to the team, the Falcons were able to afford travel and entry to tournaments like the Metro Invitational and more.

The golf program will continue to seek community support, but now that his first year at the helm is finished, Buczek is looking forward to watching it continue to grow.