The Fountain Hills Unified School District golf programs have turned around completely in the past two years. The programs at both the middle and high school were nearly shut down two years ago, but head coach Bob Buczek saw a 300% increase in participation between his first and second years.

Buczek’s assistant coach and wife, Angie, works as a counselor at the middle school and recruited Bob when she heard they needed a coach. The Falcons didn’t make any cuts during try outs last year, and the high school team had seven players. Buczek said 23 students came to try outs this year, and he had a difficult time shaving the roster down to 10.

Half of the team is returning from last year. Junior returners Ethan Schafer and Tom Tiebert not only look to lead the team in skill, but also experience. They are joined by fellow returning junior Ben West, and newcomer junior Jaxson Butcher as the oldest on the team.

According to Buczek, some of his best golfers are underclassmen. Sophomore Savannah Miller found her swing late in the season last year and has only improved more since then. In the last match of last season, Miller finished third on the team behind Ethan Schafer and graduated senior Alex Schafer.

“From my understanding, she quit volleyball to concentrate on golf,” Buczek said of Miller. “It’s kind of exciting. Like I said, we have a pretty good-looking team right now.”

Miller was one of two girls last year, along with fellow sophomore Meg Milashowski. The team doubled their ranks of female golfers and went from two freshmen last year to four sophomores this year.

Sophomore Zoe Kohoutek transferred into Fountain Hills High School this year, and Miller and Milashowski recruited their classmate Shannon Breen to play golf.

Freshmen Adam Oberg and Tegan Wolf played on Buczek’s middle school team and could be some of his best golfers this year. Buczek said Oberg and others returned to the middle school team to help young players last semester.

“There’s definitely more team spirit this year than last year,” Buczek said. “Especially in middle school too. [In practice] ‘So what are we playing for’, we’re all making it fun. It’s a fun sport and that’s one of the things we promote.”

Buczek believes his team’s Instagram helped recruiting efforts. He posts pictures of the team having fun or doing something interactive with the community. He said engagement was up in the middle school program as well this year.

Buczek was happy last year that so many local clubs and organizations helped him in his first year. The team raised money with the Elks Club by helping them at a local golf tournament, and local clubs like Desert Canyon Golf Club continue to support the program by providing golf bags this year and letting the team practice for free.

Buczek did an end-of-season golf family scramble with the middle school team and raised money with a putt-a-thon earlier this year. Buczek hopes to send more than one individual to the state tournament this year, and likes the team’s chances next year even more, when two-time middle school individual champion Savannah Simonson joins the team.

The Falcons have 12 matches scheduled, and Buczek has left a few weekends open for potential invitational tournaments. Golfers need to compete in seven matches to qualify for state, and there will be plenty of chances for the Falcons to prove their metal.

The Falcons had 27 days from their first practice to prepare for their first match. They start on Monday, March 6, and their next scheduled match is on Friday, March 24.