A tough challenge awaited the Durango High School boys golf team Tuesday.
One day after finishing in a tie for fourth at Grand Junction’s tournament at Bookcliff Golf Club, the DHS Demons finished in fifth place at The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa.
Led by Cory Gillespie’s 3-over-par 75, the Demons shot 239 to finish just seven strokes back of first-place Fruita Monument.
“We got a little closer to first place at a tougher course in Redlands Mesa,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said. “It is a really tough course with lots of elevation changes and narrower fairways.”
Steamboat Springs finished in second place with a 233, Montezuma-Cortez followed with a 235, Grand Junction was third with 235, and Aspen finished one-shot ahead of DHS with a 238.
Ty Spicer broke 80 for the second consecutive day for DHS, recording a 7-over 79.
“Ty pulled it together in the end with an eagle, birdie, par finish to shoot 79,” Rawles said.
Daniel McElwain shot an 85, Erik Walker posted an 86, and Cameron Barnhardt signed for an 88 for the Demons.
The low round of the tournament belonged to Grand Junction’s Donny Kinnaman, who finished with an even-par 72.
After finishing the first two tournaments of the season, Rawles was pleased with his team’s overall performance, especially that of Gillespie, who backed up Monday’s 2-over 73 at Bookcliff with a third-place overall finish Tuesday.
“Cory played really well out of the gate for the first two days, really solid,” Rawles said. “It was a tough test for everybody, but it gave me a chance to see where everyone is, and we can build off that going forward.
“We finished only seven strokes off the lead (Tuesday), and that is only two or three strokes a man we can clean up to win. We definitely can take that home, clean it up and continue to build toward regionals next week.”
DHS is back in action next week with a pair of regional tournaments at Montezuma-Cortez and Pagosa Springs.
Rawles said the team will be able to take 12 to 13 players to next week’s regional tournaments.
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