Tough rounds happen to all golfers regardless of skill level. The Durango High School boys golf team struggled in tough conditions on Monday at Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction and on Tuesday at The Bridges Golf Course in Montrose.
Durango finished fifth out of 11 teams as both days were combined to make up the Grand Junction/Montrose Invitational.
“The boys ran into a couple of tough golf courses up in Grand Junction and Montrose,” Durango boys golf head coach Kirk Rawles said. “The wind was blowing probably 25 miles an hour at Tiara Rado. Then at The Bridges, we got called off the course a couple of times because of lightning. So it played pretty difficult, for sure.”
Durango finished with a team score of 486, +60-over-par, over the two rounds at the two different courses. The team scores included the top three rounds from each team at each course. Grand Junction finished first with a team score of 451 and Erie was second with a team score of 463. Fruita Monument was third with a score of 476 and Pueblo West was fourth with a 478.
At Tiara Rado, the Demons were fourth with a team score of +33. Rawles said the first six holes were very tight with houses, trees and out-of-bounds markers surrounding those holes.
The wind at Tiara Rado made the players switch clubs to compensate for the lost yardage which led to mistakes. The wind also affected the putting. It was also the Demons’ first time at that course which didn’t make things easier.
Sophomore Drew Jepson finished with a +5 over 76 at Tiara Rado. He had two birdies, nine pars and seven bogeys. Senior Ben Ogden and junior Nolan Pace each shot an 85. Both Ogden and Pace each had double bogeys on multiple holes and a triple bogey.
Conditions were easier at The Bridges but it was still wet. The Demons were fifth that day at +27-over-par. Jepson shot a +6-over-par 77. Ogden bounced back for a +7-over-par round and Pace shot another +14.
After two days, Jepson finished fifth at +11, Ogden was 14th at +21 and Pace was 18th at +28. Grand Junction’s Hunter Simmons won the tournament at +3-over-par.
“We were maybe hoping to crack into the top three in that crowd,” Rawles said. “We had a couple of blowup holes and couldn't really quite make the adjustments to the greens at both places.”
Rawles said he told his team not to worry about the scores and to essentially treat the tournament as a practice round for state, which will take place at Tiara Rado on Oct. 6.
The Demons will have plenty of practice before regionals at Black Canyon Golf Club in Montrose on Oct. 1. Rawles hopes the Demons can qualify as a team for state.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
