The state now has an idea of who Newburgh Free Academy’s Yan brothers are.

Eighth-grader Josh Yan – in his first New York State Public High School Athletic Association golf tournament – shot a total of 143 to finish third place on June 5 and 6 at the Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira.

“I feel good about the way I played,” Josh Yan said. “It was a tough course, really windy.”

His older brother, sophomore Mark Yan finished in a fourth-place tie for ninth place with a 148.

“I felt good coming into that week,” Mark Yan said. “We played a big tournament the week before. I had some experience on that course about a month ago and I played this course, so I felt good coming into this. I made a couple of bad holes and a couple of bad shots, but I kept my composure, which helped me down the stretch.”

Even if some of their competitors showed their frustration by throwing a club after a bad hole, Newburgh’s brothers kept their cool, and stayed focused.

“They’re just great young men,” Newburgh boys’ golf coach Jim Nee said. “You wouldn’t know if they bogeyed the whole or birdied a hole. The boys just moved on.”

Josh Yan shot a 70 on the first day, putting him in fifth place after the opening round. He shot a 73 on the second day to land in third place.

His third-place finish earned him a spot in the New York State Federation tournament at Bethpage Black in Farmington, Nassau County.

He’s looking forward to playing on what is considered one of the most challenging municipal golf courses around.

“I know Bethpage Black is a really fun and challenging course,” Josh Yan said. “This is my first time playing it so I want to try to have a big of fun and try to do the best I can.”

Locust Valley senior Thomas Finn won the tournament by shooting a 138 over the two-day tournament. The top 2 finishers were both seniors, as were the next four place finishers.

While they hope to be tops in the state again next year and possibly go to the Federation tournament together, they know even though those top seniors are gone, they won’t be the only younger players coming up looking to fill that void.

“As the years go, lots of good players leave, but there’s also some other good players,” Josh Yan said. “I know where I stand. This year I came in third in states. I expect myself to win states next year or become Top 3 again.”

Mark Yan had identical performances on both days, shooting rounds of 74 on his way to ninth place. He tied with Luke O’Grady-Rodgers of Carmel, Owen Corby of Sutherland and Rocco Randazzo of Lewiston-Porter.

Overall, Section 9 finished in third place with a total of 1,062. Section 8 won finished in the lead with a 1,037.

Now, the state knows who the Yan brothers are.

“I feel like we definitely put ourselves out there,” Mark Yan said. “Me, personally, I could have played a little better, but you can always say, ‘I could have done this, or I could have done that,’ but at the end of the day, I hit some great shots and I made some great putts. Shots could have gone really bad for me, but I’m happy with the way I played.”