Ironwood Ridge won its third team title in program history on Friday after the Nighthawks (defeated Notre Dame Prep in a scorecard playoff after both squads came in with identical scores of 580 (+4) after two days of play at the Aguila Golf Course in Laveen Village. Ironwood Ridge won the Division II championship last year by beating Notre Dame 565-579.

Catalina Foothills took third last year some 17 shots off the pace but the Falcons came in only shot back at 581 this fall.

“This team is gritty,” Ironwood Ridge head coach Ryan Bais said after the back-to-back win. “We never actually led this tournament. We trailed the whole way and tied it on 18. The tie breaker was our fifth guy’s score and he shot 76 to win the tie breaker. It was a total team win with the tie breaker. Everyone contributed. Brasen Briones birdied the last two holes with clutch putts. Jayden Schmitz parred the last three and Jacob Medina played a great round and clinched it with a clutch 2-putt from 50 feet on 18. Sean Kelly and Wyatt Charnocki came through big by firing 76’s today.”

Briones won the D-II individual title in 2021 as a sophomore and former Salpointe standout Carlos Astiazaran won it last year in his final season. Briones will be joining Astiazaran at Pacific next year in collegiate play.

Landon Ashcraft. (Dean Visser/AIA)

 

This year’s champion, Notre Dame sophomore Landon Ashcraft, shot an 8-under 136 (67-69) to beat Desert Mountain (70-69: 139) senior Trey Moore and Catalina Foothills (70-69: 139) by three strokes.

Catalina Foothills led the field by one stroke after the first round on Thursday and the Falcons ended the season as the top-ranked D-II program in the state and No. 3 overall when combined with D-I programs. Ashcraft was ranked No. 6 coming in and Saguaro senior Oscar Uribe was the top-ranked D-II golfer. Catalina Foothills junior Finn Meister finished No. 2 in the player rankings.

Ashcraft is the fourth golfer from Notre Dame to win a state championship (Austyn Karle in 2006), Nicholas Losole III in 2007 and 2008 and Austin Stadeli in 2013). Bais coached the Nighthawks to championships in 2008, 2022 and now 2023.

“It’s never easy to win let alone back to back,” Bais added. “It took a lot of determination and grit to pull this one out. Couldn’t be prouder of this group!”