The defending state champion had to learn that winning wasn’t everything. 

Cheyenne Mountain’s Brayden Destefano is a superb competitor. As a sophomore last season, he won the 4A boys golf individual state championship en route to helping the Red-Tailed Hawks secure their first team title since 2022. 

This season, Destefano was dominant again, with top-five finishes in nearly every tournament he played and several of them being first-place finishes. He ranked inside the top 10 in Colorado for birdies and top 15 for pars. For the third time in his high school career, Destefano was named to an all-state team. He was second team all-state in 4A his freshman year and has made the first team the past two seasons.

For the second straight season, Destefano is the boys golf Peak Performer of the Year.

Despite the accomplishments, this year’s state tournament in Longmont didn’t go the way he or Cheyenne Mountain wanted. Destefano finished seventh while the Hawks placed 11th.  

But 2025 was far from a disappointment as Destefano learned leadership and established a new standard for his mental health. 

“I learned how, even when I’m not playing my best, I really learned how to get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes and just play golf and have fun,” he said. “I wasn’t having fun for a little bit over the summer, and I think playing with my team, playing with the coaching staff that I have, they really showed me that it’s not always about how it turns out, it’s just about having fun. Having fun really makes it a lot less stressful and it ultimately leads to better scores.”

This year’s challenges weren’t just internal. Cheyenne Mountain graduated first-team all-state golfers Charlie Doyle and Ethan Ivany last year, meaning it was Destefano’s time to become a team captain. 

“That was one of the challenges that we decided to put on him is to actually name him as the captain and challenge him to become a really good leader,” Cheyenne Mountain coach John Carricato said. “That’s a development in progress. He did a wonderful job in increasing that skill. But it was really new to him. It’s kind of cool to be able to talk with him about what’s expected from a leadership standpoint, making sure that he understands that his actions, people watch.“

Destefano’s growth mentally went hand-in-hand with his development as a leader. He used to enter tournaments thinking if he didn’t win, he failed. But he’s since dropped that mentality. Now, he believes he’s more fun to be around, which helps him be a better example for his teammates. 

“I think that showing that hard work will pay off, and to the kids that maybe aren’t performing the best on my team, if they see me putting in hard work and that it pays off, that it’ll work for them too,” he said. “I think having the great leadership that I’ve seen over my freshman and sophomore years from Charlie Doyle and Ethan Ivany, seeing them be such great leaders, really helped me see what great leaders were.”

Destefano took a big step forward as a leader on the first night of the state tournament.

“We went to dinner and we didn’t have a really good first day and we sat down after eating that night. And he’s the one that actually stepped up. And he’s the one that sent a message of what was expected for the second day for all four of the players,” Carricato said.

“Making sure that they understood that we have got to be accountable for each other. Our motto during the state tournament the last few years has always been, ‘Let’s just win the day.’ That was the message that he sent to his teammates and that was not prompted either.”

Destefano followed the example set at previous state tournaments by former Cheyenne Mountain leaders. Watching great people excel in the sport and then trying to push the standard forward has been a central theme in Destefano’s golfing journey. 

He played his first 18 holes when he was age 3 or 4. Back then, his leaders were his grandfather and brother, who was 14 years his senior. Destefano grew up taking trips to Florida to play with his family.  

Eventually, the family pastime grew into his personal passion and golf is a year-round activity for Destefano. Earlier in 2025, he earned a PGA Junior Cup win alongside a top-10 finish and a top five finish. He also played in American Junior Golf Association tournaments, where he earned two top-10 placements and one in the top five. 

He’s the first in his family who will continue his golfing career in college, having committed to play at CU Boulder. 

“It’s really cool to be the first person in my family who has gone this far with something that they’re good at. Going to CU, I know they can get me to the next level,” he said. “It’s all up to me with how much work and commitment I put in, and I really want to keep going as far as I can.”

His ultimate dream is, of course, to play professionally. He understands that the pathway to that level will be very difficult and one that he will take step by step. The past season, and the lessons learned, will no doubt be a key part of that journey.