You don't want to see this Washington high school golfer high on tournament leaderboards - or else

Bellarmine Prep senior JJ Bordeaux always puts himself in position to win, and reigning WIAA 4A champion has chance to share state history next week in Spokane

Bellarmine Prep (WA) golfer J.J. Bordeaux is going for back-to-back WIAA championships in 2025 - and to become just second 4A or 3A golfer to record top-two finishes in all four state-tournament appearances. / Photo by Todd Milles

TACOMA, Wash. - Being the youngest of 10 Bordeaux siblings and cousins has its trickle-down benefits.

Best by-product for Bellarmine Prep senior J.J. Bordeaux?

"Just growing up around their competitiveness," he said, "especially in golf and basketball."

This Bordeaux gets a passing grade for paying attention - and an A-plus for converting those observations into fuel for his own success.

A Creighton men's golf signee, Bordeaux - the reigning WIAA Class 4A champion - has a chance to share history next week when the Lions travel to the Class 3A championships in Spokane.

If Bordeaux finishes first or second, he will become the second golfer ever to record top-two finishes in all four years of high school in the large-school classification, joining Fort Vancouver's Spencer Tibbits (2014-17), a three-time Class 3A medalist who went on to play at Oregon State University.

And the course Bordeaux will be playing - The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course - in the Class 3A tournament May 20-21 is the same layout from two years ago when he was the state runner-up as a sophomore.

"It's insanely hard to do," said Bordeaux of being first or second in the WIAA championships against a quality field of golfers. "My freshman and sophomore years, I lost both times by one shot and it all came down to the final holes. And last year, I thought I was in the worst position (tied for 13th place after first round) ... but luck was on my side.

"I feel like I've played the good golf I needed all three years to be in those positions."

It certainly has been a wild three-year ride. Consider:

Bellarmine Prep's J.J. Bordeaux is playing college golf at Creighton in 2025-26. / Photo by Todd Milles

* As a ninth grader at Indian Summer Country Club in Olympia, Bordeaux carried a three-shot lead into the final nine holes, but lost a bit of momentum by missing a short par putt on the 17th hole - all while Redmond's Akshay Anand rallied to win with a 4-under-par 68 in the final round.

"To be fair, I was a little nervous," Bordeaux said.

* Again in 2023 at Qualchan, after an opening 66, Bordeaux took the lead in the final round - but was undone by an unfortunate circumstance when his tee shot clanked off the back of a parked-in-the-fairway cart of a rules official, and the bal deflected backward nearly 100 yards.

He recovered to make a par on the hole, but admitted the incident "threw me off my game" as he lost the lead to eventual champion Ryan Takeshita, of Sumner, who closed with a 2-under 70 to edge the Lions' standout by one stroke.

* Last spring, Bordeaux opened his tournament with a 2-over 73, and trailed overnight leader Mason Bradford, of Moses Lake, by four shots.

In fact, with three holes remaining in the tournament, Bordeaux still trailed by four strokes, this time to playing partner Walker Lamb, of Bothell.

Bordeaux made up one shot in each of the next two holes, including one with a birdie at No. 17. And on the finishing hole, Lamb four-putted (to a questionable pin location) to make double bogey, and Bordeaux was in a four-man playoff.

Playing the same No. 18, an uphill par 5, Bordeaux hit his approach shot from 210 yards out close to the hole, and won the Class 4A championship by making a 4-foot eagle putt.

"I just got it done in the playoff," Bordeaux said.

Before you go passing off Bordeaux as just a golfer - he was also one of the leaders of a Bellarmine Prep boys basketball squad that shared the 3A PSL championship, knocked off Rainier Beach in the regional round and advance to the Class 3A championships in the Tacoma Dome.

A prolific 3-point shooter at guard, Bordeaux also never minded putting his nose into intense action as a defender.

"I am the biggest competitor you will ever meet," Bordeaux said. "And there were multiple times where we were way down and we battled back to win.

"And I feel like that's translated a lot to golf, like you feel like you're never really out of it if you find a way to battle back."

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