Daily Journal Boys’ Golfer of the Year: Menlo-Atherton’s Graham Martin

While hardcore golf fans and players know the benefits of good hands, the average fan may not be familiar with it. They see guys and gals hitting bombs off the tee, but the cliche, “Drive for show, putt for dough” is a cliche because it is true.

Menlo-Atherton golfer Graham Martin can hit the ball a ton off the tee. But his real scoring ability is because of his hands.

“When I do tryout, we do a long-game tryout and short-game tryout,” M-A coach Richard Dunn said. “I can tell who has soft hands to get it up and down. [Martin’s] hands are insane. He can bomb it, but his real skill is chipping.”

And putting and just about anything else a golfer needs to be elite. And that is where Martin is trending. A junior, Martin dominated Peninsula Athletic League play this season, finishing with low-round honors in seven of eight matches played, shooting under par in all seven of those matches. He followed up his spectacular regular season by rallying to win the PAL individual championship, shooting a second-round 5-under 67 at Half Moon Bay Golf Golf Links to secure Daily Journal Boys’ Golfer of the Year honors.

Martin joins older sister, Ava, as a Daily Journal Athlete of the Year. Ava Martin was the Daily Journal Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year in 2022.

“The goal was to win PALs,” Martin said. “I remember once Alejandro (Formosa, a 2025 Hillsdale graduate who won back-t0-back PAL titles in 2024 and 2025) was gone, I felt it was my time.”

A stumbling start

But after the first round of the two-day PAL championships, it looked like Martin might have to wait for his senior year for “his time” as he opened with a 4-over 76 at Crystal Springs Golf Course, just off Interstate 280 in Burlingame.

Some players may have panicked. Martin, however, just shrugged it off as another struggle for him at Crystal Springs. The only time he didn’t shoot under par during the regular season came in the Bay Division opener — a loss to Carlmont in which Martin shot a 2-over 38 to finish second, a shot behind Carlmont’s Keegan Marlatt, who shot a 1-over 37.

“There’s just something about me and Crystal Springs,” Martin said. “I don’t know what it is and we lost by a lot to Carlmont that day.

“That was a wake-up call. … It definitely motivated me.”

Luckily for Martin, Day 2 of the PAL championships was at Half Moon Bay Golf Links and he quickly made up ground, moving into the lead as he made the turn. But he was only up a stroke after a bogey on No. 13.

He did not drop a stroke after that. After what he described as a “shaky” par at No. 14, Martin finished with flourish, as he lopped off four more strokes as he birdied the final four holes of the round to win the championship going away.

His 5-under 67 gave him a two-day total of 1-under 143. It was a 14-shot improvement from his sophomore year, when he shot a 157.

“When I shot 4-over [at Crystal Springs], mentally I was, ‘Whatever,’” Martin said. “I knew the tournament wasn’t done. I’ve always played well (at Half Moon Bay).”

Said Dunn: “When the putter gets hot, he’s dangerous.”

That momentum didn’t carry over into the Central Coast Section tournament, however. He shot a 5-over 76 in the qualifying round at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey. That qualified him for the CCS championship round the following week, where he shot a 6-over 77 to finish in 44th place and end his season.

But the fact Martin improved as much as he did season-over-season is a testament to not only getting bigger and strong, but also focusing on golf exclusively.

“I was playing basketball pretty heavily for a while. Basketball and golf in the summer,” Martin said. “Last summer, I decided to forego basketball and started traveling all over (for golf).”

Tournament golf and high school golf are different games

The junior golf circuit and the high school golf season are two completely different animals, however. While still an individual sport, the team element is introduced in the high school game.

Which is what Martin craved.

“I love being around the team. Having the whole team support you. … That’s why I loved basketball,” Martin said.

The competition itself is completely different, as well. On the junior circuit, tournaments are usually at least two rounds of 18 holes each day over the weekend. Some of the bigger events feature four-day tournaments, with cuts and everything.

A regular-season high school event is just nine holes and the preparation for either event if also vastly different.

“The hardest part (of playing high school golf) is going out on a Tuesday afternoon after school and it could be a windy afternoon. Or it’s been raining,” Martin said. “In high school matches, I’ve taken more of an aggressive stance. In tournament rounds, I’m way more patient. I’m trying to walk away with pars.”

In high school matches, Martin was, figuratively, aiming at pins. And that aggressiveness paid off. After that 2-over round to open the PAL season, Martin went on a birdie run. In his second match at Baylands Golf Links in Palo Alto he had five birdies in earning low-round honors. That started a run that saw Martin playing at an incredible level. In his next start, he had four birdies and no bogeys, had two birdies in his next match, three March 23 and two more March 31 — which also featured an eagle.

All told, Martin played PAL regular-season matches at 16-under par going into the PAL championship.

“He’s been good for a long time, but he wasn’t as consistently under par last year,” Dunn said. “He’s been more consistent in match play this year. He like to play for his team. He seems to execute better.

“He loves that part (playing with a team).You play for each other, you tend to play better.”

So — what about those hands?

“I think it came from tennis. … Drop shots helped my chipping,” Martin said. “The whole reason I got into golf was that I played tennis for so long and got tired of playing it. I needed something to get away from tennis.”

Tennis’ loss was golf’s gain.