Long before he was one of the area’s most consistent high school golfers, Ottawa’s Bryer Harris was a young kid on a driving range, striking balls with little skill but limitless fascination.

That early spark has never faded, and now years later, the same quiet joy – and relentless desire to “beat the course” – helped push him to a fantastic penultimate high school season.

“I was pretty young, but I remember one day my dad taking me to the driving range that used to be on Route 6 near La Salle to just hit some balls,” Harris said. ”I wasn’t very good at it, but I just found it to be fun and something I wanted to stick with.

“I’ve played other sports, but none of them ever gave the satisfaction I’ve found with golf.”

This past fall, Harris – the 2025 Times Boys Golfer of the Year – earned many medalist honors at nine-hole dual meets and finished in the top six in every one of the Pirates’ seven regular-season 18-hole events, including runner-up marks at the Illinois Valley Central and Marmion invites. He also finished sixth to help the Pirates win their fourth consecutive Interstate 8 Conference championship and teamed with Colt Bryson to claim the title at the Mendota Ryder Cup.

“Playing golf, being on the course, it’s just my favorite thing to do and favorite place to be,” said Harris, a big contributor to Ottawa’s 2A state championship in 2024. “It’s a very hard and demanding sport physically and mentally that challenges you every time you’re out there.

“I think the fact that no matter how low I shoot, the course essentially wins, just keeps me coming back. It’s all about how close I can get to actually beating the course. Even on my worst day, I’m still looking forward to getting back out there the next day.”

Harris led the way to Ottawa’s seventh straight Class 2A regional title by winning the individual championship with a 3-under 69 at the Valley View Golf Club in Cambridge. He then finished in third place at the Rockford Boylan Sectional at the Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Club with a 1-over-par 72, which helped the Pirates finish first and advance to the state finals for the second straight season.

At state, Harris posted 3-over 74s in both rounds to finish 11th. Ottawa finished eighth as a team.

For the season, Harris had an 18-hole average of 72.8.

“As a team, I think we were all very happy with how the entire season went,” Harris said. “While we had a bigger expectation of how we wanted to play there, making it back to the state finals was awesome. At the beginning of the season we had question marks – Who would lead; who would we count on consistently in the top four; and who would step up when we needed it the most? It actually didn’t take long for those questions to have answers, and looking back we had a really solid season overall.

“To be honest, I didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have liked during parts of the season, but I was still able to post some good scores. For whatever reason, I didn’t have the confidence I needed at times. I struggled with the mental side of the game, and that, in turn, affected the physical part. I don’t feel I played necessarily bad this season, but I know I could have played a little bit better.”

Ottawa coach Keith Budzowski said Harris leads by example.

“Bryer just loves the game of golf,” Budzowski said. “He just has the want-to-do-better from his last round to the next. We’ve been very fortunate here to have groups of kids every season for a while now that just love playing golf and love playing together. Bryer is one of the most dedicated golfers we’ve had in the program and proves if you put the time in, you’re going to be a good golfer.

“He has the great ability to shake off a bad shot, which really doesn’t happen often, and just move on to the next one. He’s also someone who strives to get better at the things he’s already good at, not just the things he’s not. He’s had three really good seasons for us so far, and I look forward to seeing what he can do as a senior next season.”

Harris said his offseason will consist of just trying to improve all aspects of his game.

“My biggest goal in the offseason will be to speed up my swing and get a little faster to get a little more yardage. With that is also working on keeping the mechanics of my swing where it’s at,” Harris said. “I’m hoping to be able to consistently drive the ball 300 yards off the tee when I need to.

”I feel like my overall game is in a pretty good spot, and the goal until next season is to at least keep it where it’s at while trying to make improvements.”