ST. GEORGE — Boston Bracken won the boys 15-18 division of the Jay Don Blake Junior Tournament at Bloomington Country Club last weekend, finishing at 20 under par over 54 holes.
Bracken, a soon-to-be-graduated senior at Crimson Cliffs High School, shot rounds of 69 and 61 on Friday, followed by a 65 on Saturday to finish with a total of 195.
Coming in second place with a 13-under score of 202 was Bowen Mauss, a senior at Corner Canyon High School in Draper. Mauss and Bracken are slated to be college teammates, as both have signed to play for Arizona State University.
Taking third place in the tournament was Lincoln Markham, Bracken’s close friend and teammate at Crimson Cliffs, which has won the past two state 4A championships.
Markham, who has signed to play for Brigham Young University, finished with a 9-under score of 206 at the Jay Don Blake event. To see full tournament results on Utah Junior Golf Association’s website, click here.
As Blake presented Bracken with the first-place plaque on Saturday, he said, “I get emotional here with Boston. He’s always told me, ‘I want to win your tournament.’”
Speaking to St. George New via phone on Monday, Bracken reflected on how each of the three rounds went for him.
“On Friday, I didn’t start out great. I shot 69 the first round and I didn’t putt very well,” he said. “I made a double bogey on one of the easiest holes on the golf course in my mind, Hole 3, which was kind of devastating.”
“But after the first 18, I made the turn and I started playing really well,” Bracken added. “It got really windy, which is kind of usual for the afternoon, I guess. But I started putting really well. I hit a lot of good iron shots and gave myself a lot of looks that were inside 10 feet and I ended up making them. I shot a 61, so I was 14 under (after the first two rounds).”
On Saturday, Bracken said the wind picked up again, so he relied more on his pitching wedge for approach shots.
“The last day I just played pretty consistent and made my putts I needed to make,” he said.
Contacted for comment on Tuesday, Blake said he’s known Bracken for several years.
“I’ve known Boston since he was about 8 or 9 years old,” Blake said. “I remember seeing him at SunRiver driving a golf cart that was jacked up with big old tires, like an off-road vehicle. And he’s driving to the back of the driving range and he’s got this big smile on him. And, I mean, he knew who I was. It was cool to have this little kid out there with all that excitement. ”
“He’s grown up a lot,” Blake continued. “He’s just so, so dedicated, so focused. He loves the game. And he’s not arrogant, and he’s polite. He’s happy. He enjoys that.”
Blake also spoke of Bracken’s dedication.
“I’ve played Bloomington and started when he’s on the putting green hitting putts,” he said. “You play nine holes and he’s still there nonstop, putting on the putting green, and you play the next night, after you come off 18, he’s still over there putting.”
“He loves the golf. He loves working hard,” Blake added. “He doesn’t have any problem working hard, whether it’s that he’s got to get up at 5:30 in the morning and go golf for an hour and a half before he has to go to school.”
Blake said he expects Bracken to make an immediate impact at the collegiate level.
“Arizona State is going to be happy to have them,” he said of Bracken and Mauss. “They’re gonna welcome them in, and they’re gonna be a big benefit to the program.”
Another recent honor for Bracken was his being selected in April for the 15th annual Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards scholarship, a prestigious award given to only four junior golfers nationwide each year.
According to the CJ Cup Byron Nelson Golf Tournament, the award’s 60 recipients since 2008 have included several distinguished players who have gone on to win numerous major professional tournaments, including Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Dylan Fritelli, Emiliano Grillo and Wyndham Clark.
In addition, Bracken won the Jim Harrison Sportsmanship Award at the AJGA Simplify Championship in Texas in February. Also, in January, Bracken shot an 8-under 64 and set a new course record while playing at the Coral Canyon Amateur in Washington City.
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