Neither an iron to the head in the conference tournament nor a “monsoon” in the state tournament could prevent senior Brandon Bowman from leading Mt. Airy High to the Class 1A boys’ state championship.
Bowman’s final postseason adventures began at Roaring Gap Club with the Northwest 1A Conference tourney.
Standing in high grass “15 yards” from the No. 3 tee markers and gazing down the fairway of the short, dogleg left par-4 with his range finder, Bowman never saw the practice backswing from Alex Garza of Elkin that crashed into the side of his head and knocked his cap off.
‘”What was that?’ I thought,” recalled Bowman, stunned by the unseen blow. “Then I look over, and he’s about to do it again.”
Like Bowman, Garza must have figured he was a safe distance from the tee and his competitors. Bowman said the Elkin player, who he now jokingly calls “headhunter” apologized multiple times.
Bowman, who did avoid a mulligan swing from Garza, admits he was “dizzy” for a few holes after getting hit with the iron — no, he didn’t get the number of the iron that hit him — and soon developed a significant “knot” on his head.
Initially, Bowman seemed to shake it off. But he soon got dizzy and a bit queasy. He asked his mom for a soft drink to help settle his stomach, but eventually vomited behind the bushes at No. 5. At 7, he hit a shot out of bounds and made double bogey.
That’s when Mt. Airy coach Mark Hiatt met with Bowman to make sure he was OK to continue. They decided to make a decision at the turn.
Bowman rebounded with birdies on No. 8 and 9, eventually finishing with 73 on the tough Donald Ross design. Most important, he escaped serious injury.
“(Hiatt) said, ‘Go to the back nine,”‘ Bowman remembered with a smile.
“That’s a pretty good comeback,” assessed Bowman, who didn’t have a concussion when he was examined the next day. “The doctor said an inch in another direction and I would have been hit in the temple.”
The Granite Bears, the regular-season Northwest champions, finished second to Elkin in the tourney. But a state title was still a possibility.
At the State 1A Midwest Regional, Bowman and Mt. Airy rebounded. Bowman was medalist with 1-under-par 71 at Cedarbrook Country Club, leading the Granite Bears to a two-shot victory over Union Academy.
In the state tournament at Longleaf Club in Southern Pines, heavy rain plagued the opening day of the scheduled 36-hole tournament.
Bowman and Mt. Airy slogged through eight holes — Bowman was 4-over — before play was stopped. Comparing conditions to a monsoon, Bowman said the rain prevented him from seeing through his range finder.
With the tournament shortened to 18 holes, Bowman got off to a bad start the next day with a bogey and a double bogey on his first two holes. So he was 8-over after 10 holes and mired somewhere “in the 60s” on the scoreboard.
“I told myself, ‘Bear down and make something happen,”‘ said the long-hitting Bowman, who knew he could take advantage of two remaining par-5s.
With three birdies — two on the par-5s — in the final eight holes, Bowman finished with 76 to tie for fifth in the individual standings. Though he didn’t look at the online leaderboard on his phone, Bowman was later told that his birdie on the 16th hole put Mt. Airy ahead for good.
Shockley Hiatt added 80, Oscar Stanley posted 81, Will Bowman shot 83 and Finley Baird had 88 for the Granite Bears, the only public school team to finish in the top 6.
Sawyer Slate of South Stokes won medalist honors at Longleaf with 71.
Bowman said the Granite Bears celebrated with a pool party. The school will award them with rings in the fall.
Bowman will have to drive back from Buies Creek to get his ring. He’s been accepted into Campbell University’s PGM program and plans to stay five years to get an MBA. He turned down a few offers to play college golf at other schools.
“I don’t think I’m good enough to go to the PGA Tour,” Bowman reasoned.
Interested in mechanical engineering, he hopes to someday work for a major club manufacturer.
“If I could get an internship at Titleist, that would be cool,” Bowman said. “That would be my No. 1.”