For most students, the first day of school in mid-August is when summer ends and work begins. For certain student athletes, though, the hard work begins much earlier.

Members of the golf team begin their season in early August and compete in matches throughout September, before finally winding down and closing out their season in the beginning of October.

For players like junior Aiden Patel and senior Dillon Brooks, this year’s golf season has come with its fair share of outdoor and indoor practice, memorable moments with coaches, and support from family. 

Junior Aiden Patel first started playing golf at the age of five, brought out to the range by his dad and grandfather. “They used to go to the range all the time,” Patel said. “They told me to come, and they said I’d like it. I never used to come, but one day, I came. I just picked it up. I started playing.”

Since then, Patel has grown with golf, often playing after school in his free time and during the summer. Accompanied by his dad, he goes to practice about seven days a week. “We just work on different shots and all that,” Patel said. “But my dad’s normally with me all the time, because he’s kind of like my coach who’s not my coach. He just works with me on everything.”

Even if it’s raining, you can still find Patel chipping or putting inside his house. His dedication and effort is reflected through his performance at competitions. On Aug. 7, Patel won second place low medalist at the Loudoun County Public Schools County Championship. On Aug. 29, Patel also won low medalist (first place) in a match against Heritage High School. 

“[This golf season has] been good,” Patel said. “I’ve had a couple of wins up there, and I’ve had some second places, but at this point, it’s just like the regular season, just trying to have fun with your friends and all that. [But,] when districts and states–kind of like the playoffs–come in, I’ll be ready.”

For this season, one of Patel’s biggest goals is to win the Virginia State Championship. This year, the preliminary Region Tournaments will be held between Sept. 25 and Oct. 3. After that, the State Tournament will be held on Oct. 9 and 10.

To prepare for these competitions, Patel has been working hard. “I’ve been putting myself in positions where I would be playing from the white tees,” Patel said, meaning that he has been starting from the middle tees. These tee boxes are not as close to the hole as red and yellow ones–often played by senior/older individuals, and not as far from the hole as blue and black ones–often played by more advanced and professional golfers.

“I would just be outworking everybody,” Patel said. “I’ll be at the golf course before them, and I’ll leave after them, and that’s when I know I put a good day’s work in–but I can’t get satisfied.”

Patel also must maintain a balance between golf and his schoolwork. Back-to-back matches for two or three days in a row, combined with early releases on match days, have proven to be a challenge. “You miss school a lot,” Patel said. “Yesterday, [Sept. 13], we left at 1:45. You miss the last two blocks, and then you don’t have time to make up your classes and all that. But, you just got to find a good, happy medium with it.”

The struggles have also come with their fair share of successes. “I’d say [my favorite moment of this season was] when I was at River Creek, and I was hitting like 125 yards out,” Patel said. “I had to birdie it, [score one less than the par], to beat the kid who I was playing with. And, I stuck it to a foot. Coach Geyer went kind of crazy. He was happy. Everyone was happy.”

Patel placed 6th overall in Regionals on Sept. 26 and will play next at the Regional Tournament on Oct. 2.

Senior Dillon Brooks first started playing golf at the age of four. Before moving to Virginia in sixth grade, Brooks lived in Florida, where he found golf to be a sport that had him out in the sun improving his craft. Since then, there have been some gaps in his playing, but last year, he picked it back up from when he was younger. 

“[I started back up] here at the school,” Brooks said. “I had started doing lessons [during the summer], so I could get back into the groove of playing golf.”

This year, Brooks is continuing his lessons with his coach, Colin Fisher, at the 1757 Golf Club in Dulles, Va. Fisher has helped Brooks to improve his craft and learn more about the players and history of golf as well. “The original game itself is special in the way that you need to take less turns in the sport to actually gain an advantage of winning,” Brooks said.

Brooks goes out as often as possible to practice. During the summer, he was able to go out at least once or twice a week. During the school year, though, it’s a mixture of a little bit more and a little bit less. “At some points, there will be times where I just practice either chipping, putting, or on the range itself,” Brooks said. “And then, there’ll be times where I get to play nine holes from front to back, which is pretty productive.” 

Throughout his time as a golfer, Brooks has also been supported by his family. His dad tends to play along with him, and his mother and brother occasionally come out to encourage him as well. “Even if they do have some difficulties in playing along with me, it’s still entertaining to see them with me,” Brooks said. “They just come out for my practices occasionally and go to some games whether I’m participating or not.”

In addition to his outdoor practice, Brooks also practices inside his house. “It’s little things,” Brooks said. “Like practicing my hand placement–literally stretching a ruler on my carpet and making sure it doesn’t scratch it, just to make sure my handling is well and how I want to get under or onto the ball [is well]. So, in the field, on the course, it actually corresponds to getting to a good distance. So, it’s almost visualization, but at the same time, it’s good practice.”

Brooks’ work has helped him to get closer to his goal of getting less than 40 drives on his golf course. To work towards this, Brooks has practiced physically outside and inside, but has also done things like watch videos from his coach and remember what his golfing family members and past coaches have said to him. 

Among the small team of five golfers, Brooks has enjoyed getting to know his teammates, especially the younger ones. In fact, It’s been his favorite part of the season. “There is one new individual on our team,” Brooks said. “He’s a freshman, and frankly, it’s been interesting to see where I am in the sport of golf and see where he is, and how–quite honestly–somewhat close in comparison we are. Just seeing his growth and seeing my already exponential growth–it’s been a good comparison, especially along with everyone else who’s on the team who has already been playing golf as long as I have.”

Next year, Brooks will have graduated and will be off to college, where he’s considering continuing golf. He has also thought about how he is going to deal with that and another one of his interests, Esports. “Both golf and Esports–those are both two things I love,” Brooks said. “It just depends on what’s a good [college] team that’s also going to help me get better and gain more experience.”

For now, though, Brooks will finish out the golf season–as always, continuing to work hard and continuing to improve his craft.