Panther golfer's career ran full spectrumAlthough he's played more rounds of golf than he can count, Bryan Borcher still remembers the first 18 holes he fired as a member of the Powell High School golf team. It isn't the most pleasant of memories.“I shot a 129,” Borcher said of that freshman debut. “It was a pretty bad day.”

However, from that self-professed ugly beginning, Borcher's golf career has pretty much come full circle. Later this month, Borcher will tee it up for the final prep event of his career as a member of the Wyoming Coaches' Association All-Star event.

Borcher is one of just 14 male golfers from across the state of Wyoming who will participate. The multi-day event will see the group tee it up for rounds at Casper's Three Crowns Golf Club, Paradise Valley Country Club and the Casper Municipal Golf Course.

“To be honest, I'm not quite sure how I got selected,” Borcher said. “I know if you go by just average score, there are other senior golfers who deserve to be there before me. I'm really honored to have this opportunity.”

While modest about his selection, Borcher's prep career did produce a resumé that appears worthy of an all-star nod. As a member of the Panthers' golf program, Borcher was a four-year letter winner. He was named to the all-conference golf roster as both a junior and a senior and earned a dozen top-10 finishes during his prep career, which culminated with a 13th-place finish at the state tournament in Lander.

“Bryan is a great representative of the type of athlete that should get the opportunity to play in the Wyoming Coaches' Association event,” said Panther golf coach Troy Hildebrand, who instructed Borcher through all four years of his prep career. “Bryan is the first golfer to represent us in the past eight years. After the career he put together in his four years at Powell High School, he certainly deserves the honor.”

Borcher's selection as a member of Wyoming's all-star roster becomes even more impressive when you toss in the fact that he was a late arrival to the sport of golf. He picked up his first club in the eighth grade.

“Coach Hildebrand really got me into it,” said Borcher, who now plays three or four rounds per week, depending on his work schedule. “He's the best coach and teacher.”

Once the all-star event begins, it should have a familiar feel to Borcher. He has played rounds with five of the other 13 players who make up the roster, including fellow Park County selections Sam Murray and Dylan Templin of Cody.

Members of the all-star roster will tee it up beginning on Wednesday, July 21, at the Three Crowns Golf Club in Casper, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed course. The group will continue their Casper mini-tournament on Thursday, July 22, with a round at the Paradise Valley Country Club before wrapping up the three-day event with a Friday, July 23, round at the Casper Municipal Golf Course.

All three sets of links will be new for Borcher.

“I had a friend who played at Three Crowns who warned me he'd lost like seven balls on the course because there's water everywhere,” said Borcher. “But I'm just hoping to go and play and keep the ball in the fairway.”

In addition to getting a chance to play in the all-star event, Borcher is hopeful his appearance might translate into an opportunity to keep playing the sport collegiately.

“I talked to a few coaches, but nothing serious ever came of it,” said Borcher, noting he'd spoken with four to six coaches during his senior year. “Right now I'm just planning on staying here (to attend Northwest College) and keep practicing so that I can go somewhere and maybe play my last two years.”