Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer & COO
The Glens Falls High grad just finished his sophomore season at Colgate University.
“I had just come off a bogey on 15 to go to one under,” Brayden told The Chronicle. “I don’t really look at leaderboards, but I knew with the conditions, around even would give me a fighting chance; under par would probably be stress free, no playoff for qualifying.”
He said it was a windy day. The par-3 16th was 191 yards out. “Wind was off the right, maybe slightly down, so I just wanted to keep it kind of lower so the wind didn’t really hit it too much. I took a five iron, kind of like three-quarter, and hit it exactly how I wanted to. Started just right at the pin, the wind took it left, and it landed on the green.”
Brayden said he and his playing partners “kind of lost” the ball.
“They were like, ‘I think it just went in!’” he said. “I couldn’t really believe it. Surely enough, we walked up there and the thing was in the bottom of the cup.”
“Just a really surreal feeling. Couldn’t believe it. That was my first [hole-in-one].”
“It was hard regrouping myself on the 17 tee just to finish the last two holes,” Brayden said. “Took me a second. I had to take a few deep breaths. You just get really pumped up.”
He said it was a particularly adrenaline-filled day because he nearly had a hole-in-one earlier, on hole 4.
“I actually kind of broke the cup,” he said, saying the superintendent had to come out and fix it. “It landed halfway in and halfway out of the hole. So I was already a little high strung from that.”
“It was definitely a talking point on hole four — and, you know, 12 holes later…” Brayden chuckled.
Brayden tied with Max Theodorakis to lead the field of 84 golfers. The top 5 advanced for a chance to play in the 126th U.S. Open championship.
Brayden expects that round to take place on June 8 in Westchester. The 36-hole, one-day event takes the top four finishers into the U.S. Open.
It’s “the fastest round of tournament golf you’ll really ever play,” he said.
Brayden made it this far last year, too.
His dad, Glens Falls High School teacher Jeff Dock, was his caddy.
“I’m excited,” Brayden said. “I definitely learned a lot from last year.”
He said the final qualifying round is filled with big names. Last year, he played alongside Michael Thorbjornsen, Chris Gotterup and Stewart Hagestad.
Do the big names affect him?
“I’d like to say I don’t get affected by it, but last year, you know, it’s like, wow, I’m really playing with these guys. Do I actually have it? This year I’m gonna take that approach where I’m just going to play my game,” he said.
Brayden had a successful sophomore year at Colgate, winning the Bucknell Invitational.
“It flew by. I can’t believe I’m already halfway through [college],” he said. “I’m absolutely enjoying my experience at Colgate, both athletically and academically.”
Brayden has had tremendous success already. Where does he see his future in five years?
“I’ve always been of the opinion where I set myself up for if golf wasn’t a thing,” he said. “And if some things go the right direction, then potentially a professional golf career presents itself, I would certainly love to give it a try.
“So in five years, I could be either working at a desk, or I could be on a golf course.”
“We’ll have to see,” he laughed.
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