Shady Side Academy golfer Brice Delaney hoping for big season for himself, team

By: Marty Stewart
Friday, July 19, 2019 | 7:20 PM

Brice Delaney, a rising senior at Shady Side Academy, proved to be one of the top golfers in the WPIAL last year as he advanced to the PIAA individual finals and finished in the top 20.

This will be his final year of high school golf, and the four-year starter wants to go out on top.

“I’ve set some goals that I think I can achieve,” he said. “I had a good season last year, as the entire team did, and I hope to improve on my performance at the WPIAL and PIAA individual championships. I’d like to win at states. That would be a great way to end my high school career.”

Delaney is also on the basketball team, but golf will be his sport of choice in college.

“I definitely want to continue playing golf. I’ve been looking at some schools and talking to some coaches but haven’t made a decision yet,” said Delaney, who hopes to major in business. “It doesn’t matter if I choose to attend school at a warm-weather school or one up north. Academics will play a big part in my decision.”

He has had a busy summer of golf.

“I’ve been playing a lot, nearly every day, whether it’s playing in a tournament or just practicing,” he said. “For the most part, I’m playing locally, but I’ve played a tournament in Ohio this summer.”

Recently, he played in an American Junior Golf Association event at Southpointe, where he finished 12th.

Delaney said he believes his distance and short game are his main strengths.

“I’ve been working on my wedge game and hope to improve my ability to get on the green,” he said.

His introduction to the game came at an early age.

“My dad and grandfather are big golfers, and that drew me to start playing golf. I got serious about it when I was in middle school,” he said. “At that point, I was also playing hockey, but I discovered that I enjoyed golf more, and I began dedicating myself to it.”

Along with his individual goals, he also has high hopes for the team.

“I really love the team we have, and I believe we’ll be strong,” Delaney said.

“We lost Jas Fuhrer to graduation. That was a tough loss, and we’ll miss him, but we have a lot of talented golfers coming back. There are a lot of good teams out there, but I think that we can compete with anybody.”

Tags: Shady Side Academy