Owen Castle is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Paradise Valley High School for AZPreps365.com

Paradise Valley is set to take on Brophy Prep and Boulder Creek in a cross-division boys golf matchup Tuesday at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.

The Trojans play their home matches on the Palmer course at Wildfire, however that course, as well as the driving range is set to undergo overseeding on Monday which has forced them to move the match to the other course at Wildfire, Faldo. 

Trojans head coach Mark Macgowan believes the change in courses will be beneficial to the teams as he finds Faldo to be the easier course at Wildfire. The Faldo course has wider fairways than its counterpart, but contains more fairway bunkers, which makes it feel tighter.

Wildfire Golf Club is a world-class course, and has been home to the Trojans since its opening in 1986. “We’ve been here since Day One. We’ve been here since before the Marriott bought it. The pro shop was pretty much just a trailer,” Macgowan said.

The Trojans currently are ranked 28th in the Division II Arizona high school rankings with an average team score of 27.229 strokes over par. They are led by seniors Kylen Metzner and Alex Filipe, though Filipe is ill and out for Tuesday's match. 

While Metzner has only been playing golf for three years, he finds himself on the edge of individual qualification for the state tournament, which will be held at Aguila Golf Course in South Phoenix.

“The top 18 [players] make it, and I am 18th but I’ll bring it down,” Metzner said.

Taking on Brophy will be a test for the senior, who remains confident. “I’ve gotten to a point in my golf game where I know I can compete with anyone depending on how they shoot on that day and how I shoot that day,” Metzner said, “I’m not really nervous about getting blown out of the water.”

Filling in the second spot on the team, normally held by Filipe, is sophomore Carter Bones. Bones has played on the team for the past two seasons and feels as though he has grown throughout that time. While playing a school such as Brophy can be intimidating, Bones plans on playing his own game.

“We just have to go in and do our best, and not worry about the other players,” Bones said. 

Macgowan is in his first year with the team, however it is his second time as the head coach of the Trojans boys golf team. Macgowan has been a physical education teacher at Paradise Valley for more than 20 years, and always felt inclined to coach some type of sport. Between his first and second stints coaching the golf team, he led the varsity boys basketball team to a state championship, proving he knows how to win.

Brophy is ranked third in Division I Arizona high school rankings, and is the reigning state champion. The Broncos are led by seniors Henry Dall and Tyler Spielman with average scores of 1.33 and 1.225 strokes under par respectively.

Boulder Creek is ranked 20th in the Division I Arizona high school rankings, with an average team score of 14.805 over par. The Jaguars are led by senior Blake Eddy, with an average score of 1.149 strokes over par, and sophomore Daniel Thomas, with an average score of 2.707 strokes over par.

Tuesday's nine-hole match begins at 3 p.m.