When Marian's Albert McFadden was four years old, his mother found a set of plastic golf clubs for him to play with while a majority of his family would go to play golf.

Now, 14 years later, the Times News Golfer of the Year has put those plastic clubs away, in lieu of graphite and a titanium composite.The switch in equipment has definitely benefited the talented senior, who recently wrapped up his remarkable resume at Marian with two individual Schuylkill League titles under his belt. In this, his final year of scholastic sports, he added his second of those championships, while also finishing fourth at the District 11 Class AA Tournament, before advancing to Regionals, where he missed the cut for the PIAA State Tournament by four strokes."At Regionals, I really played well," McFadden said. "I practiced on Saturday and Sunday of that week and my coach helped me with my putting, but long story short, it just didn't happen for me. My iron play and putting were the downfall that day."As most golfers know, McFadden's regional tournament woes can happen to anyone, as all aspects of play need to 'click' in order to finish 'in the money.'However, all things considered, McFadden can reflect with pride on a strong performance day-in and day-out in a sport that requires consistency."I just wanted to see what I could do, and I wanted to go out with a bang," he added about that last day of play.The Drums native has been an employee of Valley Country Club since he was in eighth grade, and developed his love for the sport immediately."Why not golf," he asked, when asked why he chose the sport. "It's a challenging sport, it's hard to learn, and very hard to get good at. It's also a sport that you can play forever."McFadden has been recruited by a few schools to continue his golfing at the next level and hopes to major in accounting at a four-year institutions of higher learning.While the game requires a strong mental approach, McFadden was able to focus under that extreme pressure."In matches, I rarely would talk to any of my teammates or opponents because I was just zoned in," he said. "Especially in tournaments, I'm just focused on the golf. I'm thinking, try and make par, and making pars increases that momentum and helps you out down the stretch."That approach produced results as McFadden won his other league title as a freshman, finished in third as a sophomore and fourth in his junior season. After making it to the individual district pool in that junior year campaign, he failed to make the qualifying cut. That only pushed him harder to produce more in his senior season.As a senior, McFadden handled the leadership role well."I think I did a good job of influencing the younger kids to get better, both vocally and by example," McFadden said. "I'd help them out with their swings, when needed, and during a match, if they were down, I'd try and pick them back up and motivate them."The end result was a team title in his senior season, which he calls his favorite memory."In one week, I won the league championship as an individual, and then the team won the league as well," he recalled.If he had the chance to play with anyone in a "dream foursome," McFadden immediately responded with two of the three players."Tiger Woods, just because he's Tiger Woods," McFadden said. "He changed the sport. Secondly, Bill Murray because he's my favorite actor, he's a nice guy and a good golfer. I actually met him at a charity event at Valley Country Club and he's a great person."After some thought, he finished, "Arnold Palmer would be nice because it would be two Pennsylvania boys, teaming up against Murray and Tiger in a better ball of partners format."When provided the opportunity to thank influential people, McFadden said, "Coach (Len) Brylewski, because he coached me for four years, made me mentally tougher, and he was tough on me."Also, Clark Lewis and Frank Radice - whenever I had a problem with my game, they'd see what was wrong and correct it on the spot."While those people all taught Albert the sport of golf, he has also learned things about himself from the sport."I've learned how to be a better person overall, as well as having a lot of respect for everyone and everything."