Former Center Grove golfer Brandon Heffner is off to a hot start this fall as a Marian junior.
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Taking an eraser to history isn’t easy when the school you represent has won 15 Crossroads League team championships in men’s golf.
Credit Brandon Heffner, who is making it look that way.
The start to Heffner’s junior fall season is one even he couldn’t have envisioned, his school record three-round score of 206 enabling the Knights to win the Players Club Invitational at Taylor last month.
Playing the No. 5 spot for first-year coach Steve Simmons, Heffner immediately raced to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under par 67. He fared even better the next day with a 65, and settled in with a third-round 74 to complete play.
Heffner took home medalist honors by two strokes over Asbury University sophomore Joào Costa.
“It’s definitely been the hottest start to any season I’ve ever had,” said Heffner, who played his high school golf at Center Grove and helped the 2021 Trojans squad claim a state championship as a senior. “I obviously had the belief that I’m able to go out and win a tournament like that. I just went out and played, and got in a zone.
“After the first 18 holes, I felt like I could do it again. I tried not to get too caught up in what my score was, and focus on every shot.”
Heffner’s mindset worked.
His program standard eclipsed Jay Williams’ old mark by four shots. His second-round 65 placed Heffner in a three-way tie for lowest 18-hole score along with his former Marian coach, Stephen Ford, and current teammate Weston Ogden.
Marian also knocked 12 strokes off the previous team record score of 874, set in 2009. That total also included contributions from another Center Grove alum, sophomore Luke Beetz.
Heffner and Beetz shared 17th place with 36-hole totals of 150 at the team’s next meet, the NAIA Midwest Invitational in Silvis, Illinois.
The golf Heffner played over the summer set the stage for his fast start to the season.
He proved extremely consistent in June, going 72, 73 and 73 to finish ninth in the Indiana Amateur at Indiana University.
That, coupled with numerous practice rounds played at Hickory Stick and at Marian’s home course, Country Club of Indianapolis, prepared Heffner to take the next steps in his college golf career.
“I feel like I played pretty well and gained a lot of confidence,” Heffner said. “The rounds I was playing and the scores I was getting were smoother, in a sense. It just felt easier to go out and shoot a good score.
“I’ve definitely grown a lot. Having experience and having been in certain situations helps.”
Marian wraps up its fall season at the Gibson Bay Match Play next week before going on hiatus until springtime. For Simmons, the former Zionsville coach, the talent and depth of his first Knights’ squad makes it possible — even likely — to be in contention in every competition.
Heffner will no doubt continue to be a factor, regardless of where he’s at in the lineup.
“No. 1, Brandon has a great poker face. He does a good job of sticking to his process,” Simmons said. “He’s prepared himself, and has really become a fine player. For him to set two school records and tie another, that’s pretty impressive.”
