Borja Friend is a freshman student at MAST Academy and a member of the  MAST Boys’ golf team. He’s been put in the spotlight recently for his exceptional performance at matches this season according to Coach Raymond. “He’s the best golfer this school has ever seen… In only 9th grade!” said Coach.

Borja was born in Madrid, Spain, and moved here when he was 5 with his brother, Inigo friend. He first picked up a golf club at the age of 3 because of his father’s passion for the sport and ended up playing competitively around the age of 6-8. The rush of winning each competition pushed him to play even more.

When he began middle school at MAST Academy, he decided to play for the school’s golf team as well as his club.

“Balancing 5-6 practices isn’t easy,” he said “but I never seem to get tired of it”

Currently, Friend says he has won more than 20 awards, among those being MVP for the MAST golf team last year. Alongside that, on October 23rd, 2023, he managed to almost break the school’s record of 72 strokes out of 18 holes at the GMAC Competition.

“I’ve traveled all over for competitions: Spain, Georgia, North Carolina, and practically all of Florida, to name a few,” Friend said.

Friend’s golf career hasn’t been all good though, he has had a few ups and downs.

“Sometimes when I don’t work as consistently, I lose my swing so I have to work harder to bring it back, and sometimes it gets worse before it gets better” he stated. “but it really helps when I take a deep breath before I T off”

During the interview, he gave credit to a few professional golfers that he said he looks up to. He said that Rory Malcoroy inspired his swing and that Seve Ballesteros was another huge reason he got into golf. He also took some time to appreciate the coaches he’s had over the years, but he’s happiest with his current coach, Simon.

Borja is confident that when he gets old enough he’s going to go pro, and he won’t stop until he achieves that dream.