The boys golf team is stepping onto the course this spring with fresh faces, strong leadership, and a great coaching staff. With the season kicking off on Mar. 11th and regionals scheduled for the day after Memorial Day, the Falcons have no time to waste.
Head coach Ray Maleyko is entering his 15th season coaching both girls and boys golf—11 of those seasons at Farmington—and his philosophy hasn’t changed: the sport is driven by data.
“Every one of these kids on the range should be able to tell you what their weakness is based on the data we have them collect during the season,” Maleyko said. “Fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts per hole — it’s all tracked, analyzed, and used to sharpen each player’s game.”
That precision, he argues, is exactly what people miss when they question whether golf belongs in the same conversation as other sports.
“I would encourage those [who] say those sorts of remarks to get out and walk 18 holes,” Maleyko said. “Play competitively by the rules. Then they can tell me if their body takes a toll after walking 18 holes in the rain, or snow, or the heat. Ask any of the boys or girls, I know for a fact that every one of them will tell you, it is physically exhausting.”
And beyond the physical grind, there’s the mental side.
“How do you recover?” said Maleyko. “How do you overcome adversity if you have a bad hole?”
His message to players after a rough hole is simple: Shake it off and move forward. You can’t go back.
Not every freshman walks onto a varsity roster in their first high school season. Tucker Dubay did. Dubay, who also ran cross country, has been playing golf since he was seven years old. His passion sparked at his grandfather’s house while watching a tournament on TV.
“I asked him, ‘Do you think I could actually be good at this sport?’” Dubay said. His grandfather, half-jokingly, told him he probably could, since he also played baseball. Dubay took it seriously and booked his first lesson right after. He hasn’t looked back since.
He came into high school with competitive experience already under his belt, having played tour events over the summer. The jump from recreational to high school golf wasn’t huge for Dubay.
“I’m a very competitive person overall, so I had gotten some competitive experience before I joined the high school golf team.”
Dubay’s varsity debut wasn’t up to his own standards—shooting a 48 in cold conditions against Birmingham. He typically shoots in the low 40s, and early-season weather isn’t the best for golfing.
While Dubay is at the beginning of his high school golf career, senior Carson Drake is writing his final chapter—and golf isn’t even where his story started.
Drake spent three years playing baseball before joining the golf team in his senior year. He had already played golf casually with family and decided to try something different. So far, the transition has been an adjustment in mindset more than anything else.
“It’s a long sport,” Drake said. “It’s just you and your mind pretty much the whole game.”
Drake and his teammates practice three to four times a week, putting in around two hours per session—plenty of time to sharpen up before the season gets serious.
Alongside Maleyko, assistant coach and FHS business teacher Michael Wolshleger—better known to players as “Dubbs”—brings his own perspective to what makes golf unique.
“A lot of people think that swinging and making contact with a golf ball is a very easy thing,” Wolshleger said. “But when they actually play, they realize it’s a lot more difficult than what it looks like on the surface.”
He also points out what players take away from the sport beyond scores.
“There are a lot of life lessons you can get out of playing golf,” Wolshleger said. “You make a lot of friendships, and even though it’s [an] individual [sport], there is a team aspect in high school golf.”
