Greg Graves is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Notre Dame Prep for AZPreps365.com

The Notre Dame Prep boys golf team is set to compete in the Peaks Invitational on beginning Friday, Oct. 6, for only the second time. The Saints hope to maintain their position among the top teams in the state as their chase for the state championship heats up. 

The competition will take place at the Continental Country Club, in Flagstaff, Ariz., which is just 20 miles north of Troon North, the home course of Notre Dame. The team, which is looking to maintain its great season that has them ranked fifth in the combined division rankings, will play in its 12th match of the year, which will be only the fourth invitational of the year. The Saints last competed at the 2023 Dobson Classic on Sept. 20, where they placed ninth out of the participating 28 teams. 

A familiar opponent and rival, the Brophy Prep team, a "powerhouse in golf," according to Notre Dame head coach Scott Watkins, will be just one of the schools competing at the Peaks Invitational alongside. The last time the two schools played, Notre Dame won as Brophy sent only one of its top five players to the match.

This time around Notre Dame will be without three of its top players, Landon Ashcraft, Xander Mulder, and Cooper Ingram. They will be traveling to Florida to participate in the Honda Classic High School Tournament. Those golfers also were the golfers who finished top six in the summer qualification rounds. Players who finished outside the top six play in the Peaks Invitational. 

Watkins wants to keep the competition light. “I want them to play their game and have fun,” he said, and “we will worry about results later.”

Representing Notre Dame at the Peaks Invitational will be seniors Daniel Rowe II and Dylan Wolfe; juniors Fin Vander Ark  and Mitchell Curran; sophomore Caden Peterson and freshman Jackson Sheridan.

“There will be many other very good teams there, so it will take our A game,” Curran said. “The course is very demanding off the tee, so whoever has the most discipline and best strategy will succeed."

This is a big opportunity for a golfer like Curran, who played in the state tournament his freshman year. He’s ready for the challenge. “We’ve played well before at this tournament, and our coaches have prepared us well,” he said.

Peterson likes Notre Dame’s chances at Twin Peaks. "I feel that we got a great shot at winning it, and I love how the team has been working hard and preparing to do their best in it," Peterson said. 

The tournament tees off at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 6, and Notre Dame will send five golfers out on the course that day, leaving the last qualifier in the summer tryouts to sit out Day One. Following Day One,  the plan is to switch out the highest-scoring golfer of that day with the golfer who sat out. Even without three of his top players, Watkins remains optimistic. “In Flagstaff we will not have our top three with us, though I expect us to play reasonably well, but I want them to have fun.”

As for the rest of the season, Watkins said it all comes down to the end of the season. “It all funnels down to what happens at state,” Watkins said. “Currently we are ranked third in Division 2, but combined with Division I, we are 5th overall.” 

That means there is some important golf down the stretch for Notre Dame.