Wrapping up The 2022 Golf Season With Brady Foster and Patrick Mahar

SEATTLE- The O’Dea Fighting Irish finished with a 7-1 record for the regular season with their only loss on September 15th against the Bishop Blanchet Bears. The Irish took 2nd place in the Metro League tournament and a 6th place finish in the district tournament. While they did not qualify for the state tournament in the spring of 2023 the Irish did have a successful season this fall. The Irish had two of their golfers qualify for the state tournament individually, senior Brady Foster and sophomore Patrick Mahar. Foster qualified for the state tournament this past spring and got as high as #2 in the state for the 3A leaderboards where he shot a 67 in the first round.

Foster said, “It was surreal to compete with the best golfers in the state all at once.”

Mahar has put himself on a big stage with big projections for the future as an upperclassmen on the O’Dea golf team. Mahar has clearly had to remained determined through the ups and downs that golf can bring, he’s also had to put in many hours of work to become not only a varsity golfer on one of the best teams in the Metro League, but individually becoming a top competitor in the state especially with him only being a sophomore for about 2 months. Mahar qualified for the state tournament last year as a freshman and is looking to build on his experience from this past year for next year.

Mahar said, “I’m super excited to have the ability to qualify for the state tournament in back-to back years as a sophomore.”

With this big sophomore season that Mahar was able to produce it wasn’t always easy but for the most part he had things under control. Being a sophomore on a team loaded with juniors and seniors the expectation is that you have to be known through your performance and that’s exactly what Mahar did. And Mahar even said himself how he felt at the beginning of the season and then how that changed throughout the season.

Mahar said, “At first I was nervous because I didn’t know how I would compare to the upperclassmen, but eventually I fit in with the team.”

There’s no denying that at first there’s at least a little bit of nerves for an upperclassman on varsity in any sport, you look up to the seniors and know that they expect you to perform since you’re in this position and more then likely taking an upperclassmen’s spot. but the difference between Mahar and many underclassmen is that he’s able to perform despite not having as much experience. As he’s grown throughout the year Mahar has had to adjust, he’s had to learn things from the juniors and seniors to make him into a better golfer.

Mahar said, “ I learned a lot from the seniors, I learned to stay focused on my own game and to not get distracted with others, I also learned the importance of nutrition.”

Mahar and Foster have both been a key part to the success of the Irish throughout this fall and last fall. They both look to have a good showing in the 2023 3A State Golf Tournament May 23-24.