The Fountain Hills High School golf team ranking has varied from No. 16 to No. 18 this year and head coach Bob Buczek hoped they’d be able to make the state tournament as a team since the top 17 squads went to state last year. Buczek found out on Monday, May 1, that only the top 15 teams will be advancing this year.

A few schools around the state that had teams last year were not active this year, and the smaller pool affected how many make state. The Falcons fell back to No. 18 while other schools improved their scores this past weekend, and they only have this week to move back into postseason position.

The Falcons traveled to Kokopelli Tuesday, May 2, and faced Gilbert Christian, Tempe Prep and Gilbert Classical. The Falcons will play 36 holes, 18 each day, in the Metro Invitational Golf tournament this Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, at Sun City Country Club.

Last Tuesday, April 25, the Falcons took third place against Northwest Christian and No. 1 Scottsdale Prep at McCormick Ranch Golf Club. Scottsdale Prep has three of the top five ranked individual players, and the Falcons faced the toughest competition they’d seen all year.

Then, last Wednesday, April 26, the Falcons celebrated their last home match at Desert Canyon Golf Club with a second place finish against Gilbert Christian and Horizon Honors. Junior Ethan Schafer led the team at 39, and freshman Adam Oberg was second at 44.

Juniors Jaxson Butcher and Tom Tiebert followed right behind at 45 and 46, respectively. Freshman Riley Murdock rounded out the top five scoring at 47.

Every Falcon got to participate, even if they went against each other, and everyone will participate again in the Metro Invitational this weekend. The Falcons have some players who haven’t played in an invitational before, and it will be a good learning experience for them.

Buczek said the team is pretty consistent, but at least once a match, everyone will have a bad hole that adds to their score. Buczek said even the team’s best golfer, Schafer, isn’t immune to those types of mistakes, although he can usually recover and hit a birdie right after.

Buczek said his bubble burst when he saw only the top 15 teams will advance to state, but he is confident that Schafer should make state as an individual. Schafer is ranked No. 32 at the time of writing, and he can improve his seeding and get an earlier tee time if he drops a low score this week.

Tiebert was second on the team in most of the matches this season, and he’s ranked No. 100 out of 452 golfers. He improved his ranking from No. 164 last year, but he will probably be on the outside looking in with the rest of his team.

Schafer and Tiebert were starters both this year and last year, but the team only had seven golfers last year, and everyone had to play. This year, Buczek had try outs and ended up with 10 on his roster. There was more competition in practices, and three new players, Butcher, Murdock and Oberg, ended up starting in over half the matches.

There are no seniors, so competition will only get tougher next year when rising freshman Savannah Simonson and the rest of the eighth graders move up. The middle school golf team, also under Buczek’s coaching, placed 10th at the state championship last fall, and Simonson finished first overall in the championship.

The Falcons finished the high school season ranked No. 23 last year, and they’ve only improved since then. Buczek said his players are already planning to work on their swing and putting this summer, and they’ll be even stronger next year.

The state tournament will take place next week, on Monday and Tuesday, May 8 and 9, at the Omni Tucson National Sonoran Course. Schafer stands the best chance to qualify, and tee times and pairings will be announced later this week.