May 25, 2010
Nick Kosmider, (The Arizona Republic/October, 2009)
(Note: this article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic)
Randy Marquez loved the game, and he loved to watch his son play it.
So now, Braxton Marquez is playing golf to honor his father.
Born and raised in Scottsdale, a Horizon High School and Scottsdale Community College alum, Marquez is in his senior season as an integral part of the ASU golf team. While the Sun Devils will enter the spring season highly ranked and on the hunt for a national title, Marquez will be playing for something more.
During winter break last season, Marquez's father was having continued difficulty using the bathroom, so late one night he went to the hospital in hopes of receiving some medicine.
There, doctors discovered something in his stomach. Further tests revealed Randy Marquez had liver cancer in its final stages.
"We did everything we could, we just found out too late," Braxton Marquez said.
Two months later, a son lost his father.
Anybody who was aware of the bond the two shared knew just how great a loss it was.
"They had as close a relationship as I've ever seen between a father and a son," said Larry Boyles, Marquez's golf coach at Horizon.
That relationship took numerous forms, and, as much anything else, Marquez's father was his greatest mentor.
"They discussed (Braxton's) future a lot," said Cindy Marquez, Braxton's mother. "They always sat down and made goals together. My husband was there for every golf match. He was there to praise him. I know (Braxton) misses him."
In April, a month after his father's passing, Marquez went back out on the course for a tournament with ASU. He wanted to let his father know the goals the two had made together were still there.
"I was still a wreck," Marquez said. "I kind of played in the tournament just to play in it. It was emotional, but it was something I needed to do for my dad. I wanted to let him know that I wasn't going to stop playing golf."
Following the end of the school year in May, Marquez went to New Mexico, where he visited with one of his dad's friends and practiced his golf game. The time away helped him "get his head together," Cindy Marquez said.
Braxton came back rejuvenated, qualifying for three major amateur tournaments during the summer, momentum he has carried into the fall season at ASU.
Two weeks ago, during an intersquad competition, Marquez shot a career-low 62 at Gainey Ranch Golf Course in Scottsdale, a course where he had refined his skills during his high school years.
The young golfer has been no stranger to adversity in his career. Though his father taught him the game at a young age, Marquez didn't start playing competitively until he was a freshman in high school.
He didn't exactly get off to a blistering start.
"He was pretty bad," Boyles said with a chuckle. "He still holds the school record for 9-hole average ... with a 34.8. You could almost reverse those digits when he first got here."
Marquez took it upon himself to get better. His father signed him up at the Gainey course, a bike ride away from the family's home, and Marquez began to play seven days a week.
"That was not pressured," Cindy Marquez said. "No one had to tell that kid to practice."
By the time he left Horizon, Boyles said Marquez was one of the top five golfers he's coached in his 18 years at the school.
When he arrived at Scottsdale Community College, Marquez "was already an incredible player," said his coach at SCC Jon Levy (now a coach at Paradise Valley Community College), but during his one season there, Marquez's game continued to progress further.
He finished with the lowest scoring average for any junior college golfer in the nation (70.76) and helped lead his squad to a national championship.
With the support of teammates and coaches, Marquez has continued his success as a Sun Devil, and this year, with the memory of his father by his side, he hopes to achieve even more.
His aspirations include finishing his final two semesters of college and earning his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies, something Marquez said has become an even greater goal since his father's passing.
"It wasn't very important before all this," Marquez said of his urgency to finish his degree. "But now that everything has happened, I have seen how things can change so fast, so now I want to get it done."
ASU assistant coach Mickey Yokoi has hardly been surprised by the resilience Marquez has shown in returning to school and golf.
Marquez came to Yokoi as a junior in high school looking for help with his golf game. Yokoi said the golfer had "major flaws in his golf swing," but with only two weeks until the state championships, the coach suggested Marquez wait until he was done with his season to make such a drastic change to his swing.
But Marquez relented, insisting that Yokoi help him then and there. So the coach agreed and with a new swing in tow, Marquez went on to finish as the runner up at the state finals.
"That's when I knew Braxton was a fighter," Yokoi said.
Braxton and Cindy said they have been astounded by the support people at ASU and the Valley golf community, one in which Randy was a well-known figure, have given to their family in the past seven months.
That spirit was perhaps best embodied on the day of Randy Marquez's funeral. The ASU golf team had a tournament that day, so Cindy Marquez was surprised when she looked up and caught the glance of ASU head coach Randy Lein.
"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be with your team," she said. Lein looked at her, smiled and said simply, "I am."