Braley '18 Has Exciting Summer of Golf
State Championship golfer, Matthew Braley '18 was on campus recently, and we asked him to tell us about his summer. Matthew will play golf for Grand Canyon University in the fall.
"I spent this summer at Grand Canyon University (GCU) to take a summer class and get acclimated to everything in Arizona. When I got to AZ, I asked my coaches which tournaments I should try to play in over the summer. They gave me two main ones on which to focus. The Arizona Amateur, which was held at Tonto Verde Golf Club in Scottsdale, and the Arizona Open, which was held at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale.
I got a special exemption to play in the Arizona Amateur because I was not in town for the qualifiers. So, I was chosen by a committee to be one of three players allowed to play based on a resume. I played well in the stroke play portion and shot 5-under in two days. I placed 9th which gave me a 9 seed heading into match play. I was disappointed to lose first round, but it was a great experience. The Arizona Open is a pro tournament that I qualified for by shooting at 67 which claimed the low-Amateur honor. After the qualifier I had a few weeks to prepare for this tournament. This event was unique to say the least; 3 past PGA tour winners were in the field of 156 players which was cut to 50 players after the second round. I struggled the first day with a 74 but came back with a fiery 68 to make the cut by 2. I was one of 12 amateurs that made the cut. With a final round of 70, I claimed the honor of 4th place as an amateur and 29th overall. It was an amazing experience to play in a pro tournament and finish so high with the field being so strong. Overall, the summer was great with only one of 8 tournament rounds being over par! Now I’m headed back to AZ this Thursday to get started on the regular season, hoping to make a name for myself at GCU."
