Jack Reeves is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Brophy Prep for AZPreps365.com  

A double bogey on his opening hole didn’t slow down Brophy Prep junior Dylan Boenning as he fired a 5-under-par 67 at Dobson Ranch on Thursday.

“I was really really impressed. It is a huge confidence boost for him,” Brophy Coach Jon Shores said. “He knows when he is playing well that he can go low, and he proved it to himself today after the double. The double might have been the best thing for him, just to get that out of the way and to relax.”

Boenning bounced back after the first hole with a birdie on the second, one of his six on the day. He finished his round in style with a closing eagle on the 18th.

“After the first hole I talked to my coach and he just said, ‘It's out of your system, forget about it’, and that just set the mood for the day,” Boenning said. “I just started making putts. I was hitting greens, my irons were super good, but the putts were dropping. That's how I got that low.”

The low rounds on the day individually belonged to Brennan Korn of Horizon and Madden Hall of Mountain View, both tied at 64. One behind at 65 in third place was Catalina Foothills junior Finn Meister. 

The first round on Wednesday saw Chaparral take a two-shot lead over Brophy into the final day. But by day's end Thursday, the Broncos were 10 shots clear of the field. Cactus Shadows finished in second place, followed by Chaparral, Mountain View, Horizon, and Hamilton.

The win for Brophy came without one of their best players in senior Tyler Spielman, who did not play in the second round. Without him, Shores went with a lineup that included three freshmen: Asher Nelson, Nathan Ash, and Evan Tyree. 

“All of this is leading to state. I don’t necessarily come into every event looking to win, I want our team to get better,” Shores said. “So for our freshmen, this is helping them get better. It gives them confidence that when we get to state, that they have already been there.”

The freshmen were led by Nelson, shooting a two-under-par 70. Nelson’s performance put him in 11th place individually out of 140 players. The other two freshmen also had solid finishes, Ash with a 73 and Tyree with a 79.  

Brophy senior Henry Dall continued to build on his stellar season with a bogey-free 67 for the Broncos. The University of San Diego commit took advantage of the par-5s as he birdied four out of the five. 

“I was hitting the ball well, I was putting myself in a lot of fairways, which is key out here,” Dall said. “I was keeping it steady, hit a lot of greens, and made a couple putts. So it was a pretty simple day.”

The Broncos will be back at full strength next week, facing Perry on the road at 2 p.m. Monday.