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SIERRA VISTA — As an 6-year-old, Logan Canfield was a bit of a golf prodigy, winning one junior golf tournament after another.
High school hasn’t been quite as successful for Canfield, but as the lone starting senior on the Buena boys golf team, Canfield is hoping to play well enough to score and lead the Colts to their best state finish since their state championship in 1970.
“This is a young team, but there’s also a lot of potential,” Canfield said.
At sectionals last week at Maryvale Golf Course in Phoenix, the Colts finished fourth out of 16. They needed only to place in the top eight to qualify as a team for the Class 5A Division I state tournament today and tomorrow at Aguila Golf Course in Laveen, but the Colts, and particularly Canfield, felt they could have fared better.
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“We left a lot of strokes out on the course,” Canfield said. “It will be interesting to see if we can get them back.”
At sectionals, Canfield shot an 83 on the first day and 82 on the second and wasn’t one of the four Buena scorers on either.
“I just couldn’t hit my greens at all; my short game wasn’t working for me at all,” Canfield said.
Buena head coach Brenden Root has placed Canfield fourth on his roster heading into state, and is hopeful he can find his game in time for his last shot at state.
“He’s close; we’ve seen signs he can turn his game around,” Root said. “He had a 73 at a tournament in Nogales so the potential is right there. He could be a low guy for two days and this is his last shot, so hopefully he will.”
Canfield has played at state all four years at Buena and his best showing was last year when he shot 74-82 for a 40th-place finish.
“He’s captain of our team. He keeps the focus of the guys playing,” Root said. “He does a good job with the guys keeping them loose and helps them perform at their best.”
For Canfield, playing competitive golf from a very young age means much more than wins and losses, birdies and bogeys.
“It was nice growing up in a golfing family. It keeps you out of trouble and I thank my parents for bringing me up right,” Canfield said. “Any time you have trouble you can go out to the golf course and it cheers you up right away ... Just playing alone is an exhilirating feeling. Being alone on a golf course, you get to breathe fresh air while most kids are locked up and playing video games.”
James Wallace, who led the Colts at sectionals with an 11th-place finish, will golf in the No. 1 slot for the Colts with Colin McCarty going No. 2, David Chung No. 3, Canfield at 4 and Logan Daynes No. 5.
The top four teams figure to be Chandler Hamilton, by far and away the favorite, along with Brophy Prep, Mountain Pointe, and Buena’s 5A Southern Region rival Salpointe, which won the other sectional tournament last weekend. Buena figures to sit in the first tier below those top four.
“Hamilton’s the best, judging by their scores and sectionals, but the other guys are close enough,” Root said. “If anyone falls down on that team, there’s an opportunity for the rest of us.”
The Colts tee off this morning at 8:20 a.m. for the first of two rounds.
