From The Heart: Family Ties Help Lead Bonnies Golf Into New Era

The 'From The Heart' feature series takes an in-depth look at St. Bonaventure student-athletes and coaches. Named for the beloved Merton's Heart that overlooks campus, this series will tell the stories of Bonnies athletic programs on and off the field. Click here for previous installments in the series. 

A new face, but a familiar name, took the reins of St. Bonaventure golf this past summer. 

This past June, St. Bonaventure Athletics hired Patrick Damore as the program's first Director of Golf. In addition to coaching the men’s team, he will also oversee the development of the women’s Division I program, which will start play in the 2026-27 season. Patrick Damore also happens to be the father of Bonnies sophomore golfer Braddock Damore.

The father-son turned coach-player relationship became a full-circle moment between the two. 

“This definitely wasn’t expected,” Braddock Damore said. “It’s funny, because in a way he’s been my coach my entire golf career, and now he’s come to the next level that [him and I] always worked toward in the early years.”

Growing up, Braddock Damore initially didn’t love the game of golf. It wasn’t until ninth grade that Braddock played his first competitive golf tournament. Since then, the Bona sophomore has developed at an extraordinary rate.

“Braddock progressed really fast,” Patrick Damore said. “I mean, stupid fast; probably faster than anybody I’ve ever seen in my life. Two and a half years later, after his first competition, he was getting Division I looks and scholarships.”

During his high school career at Warren (Pa.) High, he earned District 10 champion honors and graduated with the lowest scoring average in his high school's history (71.3). 

Much of Braddock’s early success came thanks to his dad’s hands-off approach.

“My dad never really pushed for me to play golf,” Braddock said. “He saw how some other parents made their kids feel when they were extremely hard on them, and some of those kids quit. He’s helped whenever I asked, and he knows my mannerisms, so he knows when to be there and not to be there for me on the course. When I’m in the zone, he lets me do my thing, but he also knows when to step in and talk.”

Following last season, former Bonnies head coach Ryan Swanson stepped away after nine years at the helm. With Bonnies golfers working with the PGA professional in previous winters, Patrick Damore’s name came to the surface as a potential successor. 

Prior to taking the Bonaventure coaching job, Patrick served as the PGA Director of Instruction at Cable Hollow Golf Club and previously was head pro at Conewango Valley Country Club for nine years and also worked as the PGA Director of Instruction at Lakewood (N.Y.) Golf Center. 

Patrick knew overseeing the future of St. Bonaventure golf was a big responsibility, but he gladly accepted it. 

“It’s fun, I like to do this stuff, I don’t really see it as a job,” Coach Damore said.”If they continued to have trouble finding a qualified person to take this job, I’d probably take the job for no compensation; it’s just something I like to do.”

In three of their last five fall tournaments, St. Bonaventure placed in the upper half of teams, including a fourth-place finish at the Blue Hen Invitational in Delaware and a third-place bid in the Matthews Auto Intercollegiate outside Binghamton in early October. The team also showed well in a deep field at the Bucknell Invitational in the fall’s penultimate event, finishing seventh out of 18 squads.

During the fall, the Bonnies have been led by seniors Michael Bucko and Gabe Williams with a scoring average of 74.2 and 74.5, respectively. Meanwhile, Braddock has an average of 75.0 strokes per contest. After posting an average of 77.4 in the fall’s first three tournaments, Braddock finished the last three tournaments averaging 72.5 strokes per outing.

The Bonnies look to carry over the end-of-season success into the spring season.

“After seeing what we can do, finishing third in a tournament, we are looking to finish right up in the top three again, if not trying and winning the next meet,” Braddock Damore said. “This is a huge moment for us going forward.”