From left are Warren golfers Owen Blum and Braddock Damore. Photo submitted to Times Observer

It’s easy to see why Warren junior Owen Blum and sophomore teammate Braddock Damore were good enough to become District 10 Region 6 golf all-stars.

Because that’s not good enough.

Both have higher aspirations — exactly the mentality that helped them achieve this recognition as underclassmen through their stroke averages on regular-season matches.

Blum, who was a second-team all-star last season as a sophomore, was a first-teamer this year.

“The thing about golf is that you can always get better no matter how good you think you are because even the pros practice because they know they have something to improve on,” said Blum. “I guess that keeps me occupied for long amounts of time … I think my game has improved tremendously because I have been able to practice almost every day for longer periods of time and have had opportunities to work with people who know so much about golf and how to improve. I guess, for anyone, long term goals for the sport are to be able to have fun and beat your friends. For me, competitively, the goals are to get better and go to college to play golf and eventually try to go pro.”

Damore, like Blum as a sophomore, is a second-team all-star. He knows a little something about going pro as his father has been a club golf pro.

“I look at my dad (Patrick Damore) being a golf professional as a very big advantage as he is always there to help me when I need it and he has also been through a lot of what I am going through right now as he has played golf through his entire life,” said Braddock.

“Right now, my long-term goals is to make it to states next year and hopefully be able to compete for the state title and try and get my stroke average down around par for my junior season,” he said. “Also, with my long term goals, I am trying to work hard enough to play college golf and l, of course, every kid’s dream is to try and have a career in golf.”

Damore was fifth at the D10 3A championships.

“I was happy with my season as I dropped my stroke average by 16 shots, but I was disappointed with my districts finish as I had made a lot of avoidable mistakes but I can now learn from those mistakes and come back next year stronger and ready to compete,” he said after his first year of tournament golf competitions.

“COVID quarantines definitely helped and was hard,” said Blum. “It helped because I had time through the day to hit and chip in my backyard throughout the school day, but it was also hard because golf is one of the few sports you can play and be safe and that affected the number of people at the courses, especially after that time when everyone gets out of work which made it hard to practice because there were so many people.”

Damore wants the Dragons to compete for a D10 team title, and thinks the amount of golf he and Blum play can only help.

“I think that the tournaments outside of high school golf really helped with my mental game on the course especially my nerves on the course,” said Damore. “This was also my first year of tournament golf outside of high school golf, and seeing how much that helped me improve, I am hoping to play in some bigger tournaments next year and maybe win a couple.”