Joey Brunet, On Par for a Great Future
You don't have to know Joey Brunet for long to learn he is an incredibly focused young man. Lettering in junior varsity and varsity baseball and wrestling, Joey has chosen one sport over them all ...... golf. This was not something that was just recently sparked. Joey discovered the game of golf by hitting balls on the driving range at age ten, with his "role model," his Dad, an educator and coach. His game has improved through a variety of other golf related activities. He works part time as cart boy at Heron Ridge golf club, hitting two to three buckets of balls before his shifts. On his off days, Brunet enjoys practicing at Heron Ridge or TPC Golf Course. He also engages himself in volunteer golf activities such as caddying for local national tournaments.
Presenting himself as a genuinely great guy, Joey shows no air about his accomplishments thus far on the golf team at Kellam High School. Last year he was placed on second All-Beach District Team, while also being awarded with Academic Excellence. This year, he is expected to do even more.
Led for the second season by Coach Jason Copeland, Brunet credits Copeland for being such "a positive coach." Brunet says, "Coming off a bad hole, he will give me some pointers to help me turn it around."
Brunet is confident in hitting the fairways with his driver and 3 wood. But, he feels like his short game is giving him the most challenge. In this season's practice he has enjoyed most the (50-100) three-footers in a row. The drill keeps it in the players' mind that "... a putt can really change a round."
"I think the short game is the key (in golf) and it's a good place to start as a beginner," explains Brunet.
Copeland is very pleased with the team at Kellam.
Explaining the strengths of his team, he expresses the nice "balance from the number one to the number six player." He feels that "the bottom line up is better than most." Having many returnees from last year, the team is stacked with other top of the line players such as Wade Warner, who made the first All-Region and District teams last year, Tyler Loftus, who was on the second All-District and Stefan Kwasny, who had an honorable mention at the district level last year. Copeland finds that most kids are drawn to this sport by playing with friends outside of school or over summer breaks and wanting to get competitive with the sport in tournaments and school leagues.
Now as a senior at Kellam and organizing his thoughts for the years to come, Joey Brunet knows golf is in his future. He would "like to play in college and major in education." Brunet aspires to play on a National or PGA tour. When asked what he would like to do with his education degree, he answered without hesitation, "I want to teach PE just like Dad."
Kellam's 06-07 golf team finished second in the district behind Cox. Keep your eyes on these Knights. Big things are expected as they tee off into regional play. Copeland adds, "I still feel good about the rest of the season. Our goal is to make it to the state tournament. We can do that if we play like we have all year."
