Four years after arriving at St. Peter’s University, former Montezuma-Cortez High School golfer Brian Grubbs will compete in his second consecutive NCAA Men’s Regional Golf Championship.
Grubbs’ opportunity to compete against some of the country’s top golfers became made possible after St. Peter’s won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on April 26. St. Peter’s also won the MAAC Championship last year.
Grubbs tied for third in the tournament with a three–round total of 219 and in doing so, cracked the top 10 of the tournament the second straight season.
“Personally, this year has been my best year at St. Peter’s,” Grubbs said. “I was named the MAAC Conference’s player of the month in March, which was a big accomplishment for me because it showed that all my hard work has paid off.”
Now preparing for what will be his final rounds as a college golfer, Grubbs is hoping to lead 14th-seeded St. Peter’s to an upset victory over top-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Regional Golf Championship, which will take place in New Haven, Conn., May 14-16.
St. Peter’s finished 14th in last year’s Regional Tournament and Grubbs finished 74th overall.
“Since this is my senior year, (Regionals) is kind of a nice thing to do for my last tournament,” Grubbs said. To be part of something so big with so many good players is a good way to test your skills.”
Grubbs said that regardless of his team’s results at Regionals, he will graduate on May 18 with a degree in Business Management and International Management.
After graduating, Grubbs will move to Phoenix, Ariz., and begin pursuing a career as a professional golfer.
“My dream would be to play professional golf,” said Grubbs. “Right now, I’m not quite good enough to make it, but I want to try to see how good I can get. When the time is right, I might turn professional.”
Regardless of whether his professional golfing career comes to fruition however, Grubbs said that he will cherish the memories that he made during a college golf career that was made possible by lessons that he learned in Cortez.
“Junior golf and high school golf is where you learn how to swing and college golf is where you learn how to play,” Grubbs said. “What (M–CHS head coach Micah Rudosky) did for me was to give me a really good foundation.”
Individuals interested in following Grubbs’ and St. Peter’s progress during the NCAA Regional Tournament can visit www.ncaa.com/sports/golf–men/d1 for more information.