Badin’s Haire Completes Impactful Freshman Season At D-I District Tournament
Badin High School freshman Maddox Haire reacts to a made putt Oct. 5, 2026, during the Division I district boys golf tournament at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro. Haire shot an 88 to finish tied for 78th.
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By Rick Cassano
SPRINGBORO – He took it as a building block for the future.
Badin High School freshman Maddox Haire advanced to the Division I district boys golf tournament and found some tough sledding when he got there Monday, shooting an 88 to end his season at Heatherwoode Golf Club.
“I wasn’t nervous at all because I know I have three more years and I had nothing to lose,” Haire said. “It was good. I felt good. I was just trying to have fun and be in the moment because it’s a learning experience for me playing around all these seniors and D-I commits.”
Haire started on the back nine and carded a 41, then tacked on a 47 on the front to finish tied for 78th on the par-71 course.
He registered pars on five straight holes and seemed to be on a roll as his second nine began, but he was 11-over on the last six holes, including a 10 on the par-5 fourth hole.
“He hit the ball really well today except for one bad fairway shot, which led to two in the water and a 10,” Rams coach Tim Dixon said. “Take that five strokes off and it’s an 83, and that sounds 100 percent better. I told him, ‘Dude, it’s one bad swing.’ Today as a whole, it’s been great for him and me. He showed that he can battle back again. He didn’t quit after making a 10.”
Haire said it was definitely an up-and-down round for him.
“I came out not the greatest, then I got a little hot towards the middle, then I made a few mental mistakes and had the blow-up hole,” Haire said. “I definitely wish I could have that hole back. I’d play it a lot different.”
His round included seven pars, eight bogeys, two double bogeys and the 10.
“Saturday in the practice round, the course played really slow. It was a lot faster today,” Haire said. “I think they rolled the greens, so it was tough to get the ball down. I thought I was rolling putts pretty well today, but I wasn’t really making any. A lot of lip-outs.
“The best part of my game was probably my tee shots. Off the tee didn’t get me in trouble today. I got unlucky with a couple lies, but I was in the first cut or the fairway most of the time, which set me up for success.”
Haire had to win a sectional playoff to make it to districts. He said it was fun to play with fellow No. 4 seeds Grant Paulet of Tipp City Tippecanoe, Ryder Jallick of Talawanda and Ben Hoh of West Clermont. Paulet shot 40-40—80, Jallick 39-42—81 and Hoh 44-48—92 on Monday.
Badin will return the top four spots in its lineup, so the Rams are expecting a lot of themselves in 2027.
“I thought we’d be here as a team this year with what we had after the first invitational. We’ll be here as a team next year,” Haire said. “I think my game improved a lot of this year. I think it challenged me for sure.”
Dixon said Haire deserved praise for making it this far as a freshman, describing the experience as “invaluable.”
“Maddox earned a lot of respect from other coaches up here by just getting here,” Dixon said. “The expectations today were just to get better and enjoy this experience. He’s got three more years. It should be a fun season next year.”
Loveland’s Casey Kopecky (34-35—69) was the district medalist and will be joined at state by Bellbrook’s Brody Seitz (37-34—71) and Milford’s Brock Shuluga (37-35—72). Qualifying for state as teams were St. Xavier (290), Moeller (305) and Lakota East (307).
