Every spring for the last four years, seniors Jon Borowy, Trey Profili, and Brad Ross have dusted off their clubs following long winters to prepare for the varsity golf season for the Patriots.  While the team has struggled to compete in the MIAA A Conference, Borowy, Profili, and Ross all feel their time on the team has been some of the best they have spent in high school.

“[The golf team is] the best experience I’ve had related to this school,” Profili said.  Profili has been golfing under the coaching of Serge Hogg since eighth grade,  who led to him joining the team.  Borowy and Ross both acknowledge that Profili is the hardest working member of the team, because he played at Winters Run Golf Club every day over the summer in addition to constructing a driving range in his attic so he could work on his swing over the winter months.  Borowy and Ross would both practice at every open opportunity.

Borowy has been playing golf since he was 12 years old and met Hogg through his brother Nick, class of ’07.  Ross met Hogg through his brother Matt, class of ’08, and cites Hogg as a main reason for enjoying the team.

“[Hogg] has done a lot for the team,” Borowy said.

“They’re all supportive,” Ross said about  Hogg and assistant coach Eric Neff.  “Serge is serious with us, but knows when to goof around with us too.”

“It is my goal to create a positive memory of their days of playing on the John Carroll golf team,” Hogg said.

“We’re the closest team, team-bonding wise,” Profili said.  “We all get along.”  Profili went on to describe “food days for team bonding,” where after practice, the upperclassmen, who also includes seniors Stephen St. Clair and Eric Nowicki, will go to Burger King or a similar fast-food restaurant after practice.  When Hogg can, he even joins the players.

“We all have a good time,” Ross said.

All three players feel that having a good time and staying loose is the key to having good play and good team chemistry.

“There’s some squares in the league [for whom] golf is their life and they’re no fun to play with,” Profili said.  The team likes to keep its atmosphere conducive to the best play possible, while keeping the element of fun involved as well.

“Even though we may not have won as many matches as we could or should have over the past four years, I truly believe that they have enjoyed their experience playing golf here at John Carroll,” Hogg said.

All three players look forward to the end of the year individual tournament to determine who the best golfers in the MIAA are.  The tournament is set up in the stroke play format, similar to that of PGA Tour events, where the lowest combined score over two days determines the winner.  Neither Borowy, Profili, or Ross have made it to the second day, but they all enjoy the experience of seeing all of the golfers in the league in one place.  All three have the goal of making it to the second day and placing as high as they can this year.

Profili’s favorite memory of his time on the golf team is when he birdied the last three holes to tie a match with Calvert Hall’s No. 1 golfer, while Borowy’s is playing a match against Spalding in his freshman year with his brother.

For the future, Ross is attending Ohio State University to major in finance and said he is “not quite good enough” to make the Buckeyes’ squad.  Borowy plans to attend and play for CCBC-Essex for two years before transferring to a four-year school.  Profili was set to play golf for McDaniel College, but due to financial constraints, will attend either CCBC-Essex or Harford Community College while working on his golf game.  All three recognize that their time on the golf team was special and an experience that will be difficult to duplicate.

Hogg knows that he may not have a group of players like this again.  “The friends you meet and the experiences you share during these days are what shape those memories,” he said. “One can only hope to get three more kids like that in my coming years.”

Daniel Gallen can be reached for comment at [email protected].