Top golfers fight clock to balance school, tourneys
For many competitive golfers, key elements of their game might be the spin rate of a golf ball, the launch angle of shots or yardage on drives.
For busy members of the Palm Desert High School boys’ golf team, the most important element of all might be time management.
“School is a little harder to keep up with, but I do pretty good at managing my time, scheduling my golf events, keeping up with my grades,” said Landon Breisch, a junior at Palm Desert High School and a member of the team’s talented golf team. “It affects me a little bit, but I manage to keep up with it.”
Breisch, along with his twin brother Caden, had just finished playing in a U.S. Open local qualifying tournament at Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta on Tuesday. The 18-hole event was their fifth consecutive day of competitive golf, which included a high school tournament in Rancho Mirage, a twoday junior event in San Diego and another one-day high school event in Victorville.
Also in the Andalusia field was Palm Desert teammate Max Margolis, who had not played in San Diego but did play a two-day Southern California PGA Tour Toyota Cup event in Murrieta. He and Landon Breisch had learned the day before that their Advance
Placement Calculus test set for this coming Monday had been rescheduled, allowing them to play for the Aztecs in a CIF-Southern Section team tournament in Murrieta.
How do 17-year olds like the Briesch brothers, Margolis and their teammates keep so many high school tournament, outside tournaments and school demands juggling in the air without having something fall apart?
“You learn at a young age when you are playing this game that sacrifices are needed,” Margolis said.
“But school and academics always remain your first priority. My parents have always taught me academics one, golf two.”
On this day, the tournament is a United States Golf Association qualifying event for the U.S. Open. The day before was a CIF-SS individual preliminary tournament, with six Aztecs advancing from the field to the individual championship Thursday in Temecula. Weekends are generally for junior events run by the SCPGA or other organizations. At the end of this week, Margolis and Landon Breisch will fly to Pennsylvania to compete in the USGA Four-Ball Championship, a national championship they qualified for last October.
But it all happens in the middle of a vital time in the school year, with testing and other school demands sharing time with golf for the players. Palm Desert head coach Curt Breitfuss believes the golfers should be allowed the outside play away from high school events, acknowledging that the high school events may not take precedence over the rest of the players’ schedules.
“My whole philosophy is high school golf is a supplement to everything they are pursuing versus being the top priority,” Breitfuss said. “I want it to be a high priority, but you also want them to feel the experience, because they are doing some unique things. With the qualifications for USGA Four-Ball, you are up against a lot of college players. All that helps their confidence.”
Caden Breisch admits there are days when getting to the first tee doesn’t sound like a good idea.
“That’s how I felt (for the Open qualifier),” Caden said. “I was so tired. Yesterday we had our CIF-Southern Section. I have played golf five straight days. I had a tournament over the weekend, then (the CIF event), this (Open qualifier). And Thursday we had Desert Empire League (individual championship), so it’s been one right after each other.
“But I think it is not too much,” Caden added. “I don’t know. I enjoy golf.”
The busy schedule speaks to the caliber of player Margolis, the Breisch brothers and others on the Palm Desert team are. The Aztecs are one of the best teams in California and considered a contender for the CIF state title. To even enter USGA qualifying events, the golfers have met high standards of play, including a 0.4 handicap index for Open qualifying, meaning the golfers tend to play at or below par in most rounds.
There are times when academics or other tournaments clash with the high school events. Monday would have been one such example, had Landon Breisch and Margolis not been able to reschedule their AP Calculus test. Their places on the six-man Palm Desert team playing in Murrieta would have been taken by two other Aztecs -- something Breitfuss
said he could live with.
“As they progress outside of high school golf, I’m all in favor of that,” Breitfuss said. “You know, we juggle the schedule around. But we have so much depth, we really don’t lose a whole lot if someone can’t make it. That’s another big difference in our group.”
The end of the junior year is an important time for high schoolers, especially those perhaps looking for athletic scholarships. Margolis has already committed to Santa Clara University, but Landon and Caden Breisch are undecided on their colleges.
“I want to go somewhere in California for sure,” Landon said. “I would like to go to one of the San Diego schools, USD or SDSU. I’m going to wait a little longer, though.”
“I’ve been talking to schools. I sent out a big email to a bunch,” Caden said. “I’m going to see how this year goes before I make a decision.”
Margolis’ father, Michael, isn’t sure that what his son and other high schoolers are doing isn’t too much.
“I just feel there is no break. It’s too much. And then they have the AP exams,” the elder Margolis said. “Just to give you an example, he came home Sunday night, 9 o’clock, worked until 12 to do studying. And then got up at 4 to go play high school golf. I think it is too much personally. I don’t know what Max thinks, but it is too much. Something is going to give somewhere down the line.”
Michael Margolis was a talented soccer player in England when he was his son’s age, so he understands some of the stresses the junior golfers face.
“He started playing golf when he was 5. I always tried to manage the tournaments and the schedule to where there isn’t too much pressure, but enough pressure,” the elder Margolis said. “He has to enjoy it. That’s the most important thing, that when he goes out and plays golf, he’s loving it. That’s what it’s all about. And I think when he’s overdone and too much, too much, it’s when kids can fall out of love with the game.”
Michael Margolis told his son not to play in an upcoming outside tournament because it conflicted with the high school’s junior pro, and the younger Margolis agreed.
“It’s just things like that where you have to be careful they still have to be kids. That’s my opinion,” he said. “They have had to grow up fast to be good golfers. You’ve got to be a pretty mature teenager, so I just want them to enjoy life. That’s most important, enjoy life.”
The younger Margolis says falling out of love with the game isn’t a concern.
“For me, I love the sport so much, and to play it I know I need to set aside the time for academics and to still get straight A’s and do well in school,” Margolis said. “Over time I’ve learned that you’ve got to time manage well and you’ve got to get your stuff done.”
For Breitfuss, who sees some of his players miss tournaments for the Aztecs from time to time for other commitments, he enjoys the success of his players away from school.
“It’s fun to see the success they are having. It’s great to see how well they are doing in school,” Breitfuss said. “These guys are really fantastic. It’s really a great group of kids. These kids are all motivated and they are working out together and they are doing so much stuff just to help propel themselves.
“They have such an individual commitment and dedication and maturity,” Breitfuss added. “They are taking this very seriously.”