Fairfield’s Brayden Miller wins IHSAA boys golf state championship
“I just took it nine holes at a time.” Brayden Miller won the Indiana high school boys golf individual top medalist honor.
CARMEL — Daryl Miller bought his son his first set of golf clubs when he was 2 years old. Brayden started playing when he was 3.
“He’d play a couple of holes, then he’d sit in the cart,” Daryl said. “Next thing you know, he was playing nine holes. Then 18 holes.”
From there, Brayden Miller was off and running. His dad entered him in tournaments, then found him a coach, PGA teaching professional Craig Isabel at Stonehenge Golf Course at Winona Lake, when he was 8. Isabel saw Miller swinging on the driving range and asked if he could work with him.
“That’s how it all started,” Daryl Miller said. “Then (Brayden) started playing in bigger and bigger events.”
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In the school golf season, it does not get any bigger than the state golf meet. Two years ago as a Fairfield High School freshman, Miller tied for 12th at Prairie View Golf Club. Last year, he fired a 3-under par 69 on the first day of the state meet and finished sixth overall, five shots off the lead.
Those experiences did nothing but help Miller going into the state meet this year. He and his Fairfield coach, John Kauffman, came up with a plan to approach the two-day, 36-hole state meet as four, nine-hole matches. During the season, Miller did not shoot over par any of his nine-hole matches. It worked during Tuesday’s first round as Miller fired a 4-under par 68 to take a two-shot lead into Wednesday’s final round.
Still …
“I was super nervous coming into (Wednesday),” Miller said. “I just didn’t want to mess anything up. I didn’t want to make a mistake that ended up costing me the tournament. I just tried to stay in my zone and focus on one shot at a time. That really helped me.”
Miller nailed down the state championship — the first boys individual state title for Fairfield in its history — with a 1-under par 71 to finish 4-under for the tournament, which was watched by a record state finals crowd of 1,103 fans. It was a four-shot victory for the junior Cincinnati recruit, who finished ahead of 2022 champion Aidan Gutierrez of Valparaiso, Leo senior Justin Hicks and Westfield junior Jake Cesare.
After birdies on No. 10 and No. 13, Miller was 7-under with a six-shot lead. He sputtered a bit with bogeys on No. 15 and 16 but closed out with pars on his final two holes.
“Once I got through the tee shot on 18, I knew I was good,” said Miller, who hit a 3-wood down the middle of the fairway.
His dad, though, was nervous all the way until the end. “I got up this morning at 3 o’clock,” Daryl Miller said. “Because I know you are always one bad drive away from being in the (rough) and it’s a double bogey. I’ve seen it happen so many times where you double bogey and another kid birdies and it’s flipped. So, I was worried until the end.”
No need to worry, dad. Miller was in control from start to finish, winning the first boys golf state title for Elkhart County since John Williams won for Elkhart as a sophomore in 1939. The only concern Miller had was watching Gutierrez finish strong, but he was several groups behind the Baylor recruit from Valparaiso.
“Aidan made a late run and I saw that,” Miller said. “Aidan’s been a big mentor to me the last couple. I was one of the first once to congratulate him when he won my freshman year. He’s been a big mentor to me ever since.”
Gutierrez, who was named the Mental Attitude Award winner to cap his decorated high school career, said he was “very, very happy” for Miller.
“Like he was saying, we’ve known each other for a super long time and he definitely deserves it,” Gutierrez said. “I’m glad he got one. The more times you are in that position, the more comfortable you feel and more able you are to go out there and play the way you know that you can. It does help.”
The school and community aspect of winning a state championship made this week a little more special for Miller, even though it was an individual title.
“It’s a really small school, so for him to make it all three years is really special,” Kauffman said. “It’s not surprising to me, watching him all these years. I couldn’t be more proud. We really focused on trying to make each round even-par or under and that turned out to be a good strategy.”
A good strategy. And a great player.
IHSAA boys golf state finals individual results
Brayden Miller, Fairfield, 68-71-139
Aidan Gutierrez, Valparaiso, 73-70-143
Justin Hicks, Leo, 71-72-143
Jake Cesare, Westfield 70-73-143
Daymian Rij, Gibson Southern 72-72-144
Andrew Wall, Zionsville 70-74-144
Caleb Schnarr, Jasper 74-72-146
Mattingly Upchurch, Hamilton Southeastern 78-70-148
Max Steiner, Zionsville 76-72-148
Leo Wessel, Guerin Catholic 74-74-148
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.