Before Sunrise Mountain senior Ben Lorenz can add a second state golf title to a trophy case that includes the fresh award of Arizona junior golfer of the year, he must overcome a major obstacle at the finals Nov. 4 and 5 — his playing partner.

Liberty senior Kobe Valociek has always been a name to remember in local junior golf circles. This calendar year, he grew into a player capable of stacking top five finishes with regularity.

Valociek beat Lorenz in two head-to-head matchups in the high school season and claimed the district championship, though he and coach Ron Anderson were quick to point out that Lorenz missed the Peoria district finals and has not been at 100 percent early in the season.

Should these two squareoff at full health over two rounds at Omni Tucson National, the victor is almost a 50-50 proposition.

“Ben is one of my good friends. We practice together all the time. Pretty much every day we’re in competition. We have a lot of fun with it. It always goes back and forth, one day I’ll beat him by one and the next he’ll beat me by one,” Valociek said.

Valociek finished second to Lorenz at two other tournaments this year.

Spectators at the Kenny Schall Memorial turnament in Prescott this April might have witnessed a Division I state preview as the friends at neighboring schools dueled down the stretch.

“Coaches on other teams saw the scores on iWanamaker and they came and started watching Kobe and Ben because toward the end, they were matching birdie for birdie,” Anderson said.

Valociek said his father, David, got him into golf when he was around two years old.