Golfer of the Year: James Wood's Brayden Rockwell

Brayden Rockwell’s knees were shaking.

Rockwell had been on the James Wood High School golf team for nearly four full seasons, but his legs couldn’t help but tremble with the pressure he faced.

Playing in a head-to-head playoff against his teammate Jake Bursey in the Region 4D tournament with a state tournament berth on the line, Rockwell had the chance to sink a short putt and advance.

With over 20 sets of eyes locked on him and his putter, Rockwell ended up burying what he called “the scariest six-inch putt” of his life, sending him to the Class 4 state tournament for the second consecutive year.

Rockwell’s performance throughout the season and ability to come through in those do-or-die situations are what led him to being named The Winchester Star’s Golfer of the Year.

The senior golfer had the lowest 18-hole average in the area at 74 and was one of two Frederick County/Winchester golfers to make the state tournament — the other was Rockwell’s teammate, Ian Longo.

“He may go down as probably one of the best in James Wood golf [history],” James Wood coach David Oates said. “That’s all I gotta say about that. I mean, he was just an amazing player for us.”

Oates noted that Rockwell’s play on the green improved dramatically since he joined the team as a freshman.

“When he came in, he was a really good player,” Oates said. “In the last couple of years, his short game grew tremendously.”

Rockwell, who tied for 19th in last year’s state tournament, had his eyes set on making another appearance heading into the season. And although he dealt with poor weather, he shot a 9-over 79 to place seven spots higher in this year’s tournament at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg, tying for 12th place out of 60 golfers, only two of which broke par.

“The goal was to get back to states after qualifying last year,” Rockwell said. “Getting that first experience, I definitely wanted to be able to go back and try and perform better. The score wasn’t better, but my placement was better this year.”

Rockwell had four medalist and two co-medalist honors throughout the season. He won the Region 4D North sub-region tournament with a 74. He was also named All-Northwestern District after shooting a fourth-place score of 72 at the district tournament, where James Wood placed third out of 12 teams. With his play, he received All-State honors from the Virginia High School League.

Rockwell said one of his favorite moments from this season was shooting a 1-under par 70 at a Class 4 Northwestern District mini tournament on Aug. 5 to open the season. He won that tournament, beating out three other golfers by 10 strokes at the South Wales Golf Course.

“I shot under par for the first time my junior year, and then starting off the senior year with an under-par score definitely made me confident,” Rockwell said. “I think I won that tournament as a whole by 10 strokes. So just knowing that I was at the top at that point felt really good.”

Rockwell started to participate in golf camps at 6 or 7 years old.

While he was just trying to learn how to golf and enjoy the sport at first, he began competing a few years after picking up a club for the first time.

“As the years have gone on, [I’ve tried] to focus more on certain things, how to hit certain shots and how to do stuff the right way,” Rockwell said. “But at the beginning, it was definitely, I think, more just trying to enjoy the sport.”

Rockwell said he watched Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler growing up. Fowler piqued Rockwell’s interest not just with his play, but with his attire.

“I love the color orange, and he always wore it, so I think I kind of went to him,” Rockwell said. “I think my first set of clubs was an all-orange set of clubs, so I kind of watched him as I’ve been growing up and tried to model myself after him.”

Rockwell said that Oates, who has coached golf at James Wood for 12 years, has made a large impact on his life both on and off the course.

“He’s played a huge role,” Rockwell said of Oates. “He’s taught me the difference between a team and individual. Because playing in the individual tournaments is fun but focusing on the team as a whole [is important]. I also think he’s helped me grow as a person over the four years, helping me understand and just work through situations.”

Along with the tee box shots and the putts on the green, Rockwell said some of his favorite moments came from driving together in the team van and eating meals with his teammates after matches.

“I think it’s just helped me build relationships,” Rockwell said of playing golf. “And overall, just grow as a person, be respectful to people and just understand other people’s sides to things. I think all that has come from me playing golf.”

Rockwell is bound for Virginia Wesleyan University, where he will play golf for the Marlins under a half scholarship.

Rockwell added that there is room to grow his scholarship package with certain programs that Virginia Wesleyan offers.

When it came down to it, Rockwell wanted to play golf as much as he could.

“One of the things when I was looking for school was, I wanted to be somewhere that’s south of Winchester, so that I can play more year-round so that I can grow and not have these offseasons where it’s kind of cold and I can’t get out,” he said.

Rockwell added that he will be studying business and will look to get into sports marketing and work for a sports team one day.

Years after Rockwell graduates in the spring, he hopes people at James Wood and in the community appreciate how he carried himself as a student-athlete.

“I hope that people just remember me for what I’ve accomplished on the golf course and in the classroom,” Rockwell said. “I mean, I take my education as seriously as what I do on the golf course, so I hope that people will remember me for both of those.”

— Contact Justin Robertson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

— Follow Justin Robertson on X @j_probertson