Teams: Mullen, Arvada, Englewood, Vista Peak, Ponderosa, Denver North, Denver South, Denver West, Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, Conifer, D’Evelyn, Evergreen, Golden, Green Mountain, Littleton, Standley Lake, Valor Christian, Wheat Ridge, Colorado Academy, Jefferson Academy, Kent Denver, Lutheran, Machebeuf, Peak to Peak, St. Mary’s Academy.
Teams: Alamosa, Colorado Springs Christian, Florence, Fowler, James Irwin, John Mall, La Junta, La Veta, Manitou Springs, Monte Vista, Pueblo Centennial, Pueblo Central, Pueblo County, Pueblo East, Pueblo South, Pueblo West, Rye, Salida, St. Mary’s, Swink, Trinidad.
Teams: Aspen, Battle Mountain, Coal Ridge, Dolores, Durango, Eagle Valley, Glenwood Springs, Grand Valley, Gunnison, Moffat County, Montrose, Palisade, Rifle, Steamboat Springs.
Cheyenne Mountain’s Regina Dillon tees off on No. 15 at the Spartan Invite. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — The Cheyenne Mountain girls golf team hasn’t forgotten how to win even though former coach Bill Paulson is no longer at the helm.
Heck, the Indians even lost their best player from last year in Kylee Sullivan, the Class 4A individual runner-up and they haven’t missed a beat. If anything, they’re stronger as a unit and they continued to prove it Monday as they won the Spartan Invite for their seventh consecutive tournament win.
“It’s a whole team effort, which is different than last year,” Regina Dillon said. “Last year, it was all Kylee. This year, I need to do well, Maxine (Choi) needs to do well and Ellie (Broker) needs to do well. Kylee gave us a safety net, but now it’s us and it feels great that it’s a team effort.”
And it all starts with team chemistry.
Coming into the season, the girls knew that they were not going to have Sullivan giving them a fast jump out of the gate and that they would have to rely on each other at various times. And the results have shown that they are able to do just that.
Dillon was the top placer for the Indians on Monday as she shot an 11-over 83 to take fourth. Rampart’s Arielle Keating finished first at 5-over.
But it Broker and Choi who also placed in that top 10 that allowed Cheyenne Mountain to come away with the team win. Through stretch of wins, those three girls have regularly finished in top 10.
“As far as the coaching piece, I don’t think there’s anything different,” coach John Carricato said. “I can tell you that they needed to find their identity from last year to this year. Last year, they relied on one play and this year they all have to rely on each other.”
And the girls are close enough and have developed a tight enough bond to do so. They have plenty of trust in each other and know that in the event that one player is having an off day, the others can pick up the slack.
“We have a very tight team bond this year,” Choi said. “That’s what helps with our scores is having a tight team together, but we also have a lot of motivation to do better this year.”
If that motivation continues to drive the Indians at this rate, it could lead to a fourth-consecutive state golf championship.
Cheyenne Mountain golf coach John Carricato consults with Maxine Choi during the Spartan Invite. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
And even though hoisting the trophy at the end of the year has almost become an expectation for the program, the girls know that they need to put plenty of work into it. Carricato, who also took over for the boys team, has done a great job at putting his players in a position where they will succeed the most, while still getting them to enjoy the time spent on the course.
“I think that Coach (Carricato) is the best person for the job,” Dillon said. “We just have such a great relationship with him. We can joke around and it’s just great.”
The Indians will look to extend their winning streak to eight when they head to the Pueblo Centennial Invitational next Monday at the Pueblo Country Club, the site of the 4A state tournament.
In the now and in the future, Lauren Murphy is poised to be the big name in the 4A class. She is the next big thing.
The Glenwood Springs sophomore notched a top-10 finish in last year’s state tournament and made the CHSAANow.com all-state team. She was the only freshman on the list. Logic says she is one of the hot names to watch in 2016, but she won’t go as far to say that a state championship should be expected out of her.
“I wouldn’t say I’m one of the favorites,” Murphy said. “I’m just going to try and play my best and you never know who is going to be there or how they’re going to play.”
But for some reason, golf has this odd consistency about it. Kupcho came into River Valley Ranch as a clear favorite to repeat as the individual champion. Kylee Sullivan led a Cheyenne Mountain team that had the talent from top to bottom to take the team title.
This year, six all-state players return and will battle for the 4A title at the Pueblo Country Club in May.
The one difference for Murphy this season is that she hopes to be joined by her teammates so that Glenwood can also vie for the team championship.
“There’s a good team around her,” Demons coach Clem Michel said. “I think the prospect for her finishing better at state is good and taking a team to state is looking pretty good as well.”
The team aspect of high school golf is one of the most appealing parts of competing for Murphy. Throughout the summer and the fall when she is competing, it’s a very individualized game. The high school season gives her the chance to compete alongside her friends.
Lauren Murphy. (Photo courtesy of Brian Murphy)
“(During the high school season) I get to be with a different group of people than I usually play with,” she said. “I have a lot of friends on my team now and playing with a bunch of different people, I really enjoy that.”
It doesn’t hurt that she also lives and gets to play predominantly on the Western Slope. She has honed her game on mountain courses which provide regular challenges that most golfers don’t see much of.
But that won’t come into play this year.
The course at the Pueblo Country Club plays is a par 71. While bunkers and trees are regular obstacles on the course, the overall change in elevation keeps the course on a level playing field.
“I’ve played down in Pueblo before and the courses are pretty flat down there,” Murphy said. “I don’t think there’s any advantage or disadvantage to playing there.”
So it will all come down to who hits the best shots over 36 holes. Murphy is already known as a player to watch in 2016. If she comes away with a state championship, she’s looking at three years of potential dominance throughout the state of Colorado.
Returning all-state golfers: Alexis Chan, Jr., Rock Canyon; Delaney Elliott, Sr., Monarch; Jennifer Hankins, Sr., Legacy; Maddy McCambridge, Sr., Fairview; Jaclyn Murray, Jr., Regis Jesuit; Morgan Sahm, Sr., Grandview; Mary Weinstein, Sr., Regis Jesuit.
Class 4A
Defending individual champion: Jennifer Kupcho, Jefferson Academy (graduated)
Defending state champion: Cheyenne Mountain
Regular season begins: Mar. 3
Regional tournaments: May 12-13
State tournament: May 23-24, Pueblo Country Club, Pueblo
Heritage senior Delaney Benson. (Courtesy of Heritage HS)
Heritage senior Delaney Benson has verbally committed to Creighton’s women’s golf program, according to her parents.
Benson finished 16th at last spring’s Class 5A state tournament, helping Heritage finish fifth as a team. She was fourth at the 5A Central Region last spring, as well.
In addition, Benson qualified for the state tournament as a sophomore and a freshman.
Creighton’s women’s golf team finished in sixth place at the Big East Championships last April.
Benson is the latest member of the Class of 2016 to make a college commitment.
AURORA — Pueblo Country Club has been selected as the host site of the Class 4A girls golf state tournament, CHSAA associate commissioner Tom Robinson said Wednesday.
Manitou Springs will serve as the host school out of the Southern region.
“We’ve been there before, and it’s been a great host for the girls,” Robinson said.
Pueblo Country Club also hosted the 3A boys state tournament in 2013.
The 5A site has not yet been selected, and will be announced later.
Cheyenne Mountain won the 4A title last spring, the program’s second consecutive championship.
The five locals competing at the U.S. Junior Amateur golf tournaments completed their second rounds on Tuesday, but none of the five advanced to the match play portion of the event.
Three boys and two girls from local high schools took part in the tournaments, which are week-long stroke- and match-play events that culminate on Saturday.
A total of 64 players from the respective fields of 156 golfers qualify for the match-play bracket.
The boys tournament ran into some rough weather on Tuesday. Cherry Creek’s Subin Lee was able to finish his round, but Davis Bryant of Eaglecrest and Coby Welch of Valor Christian had to try to play through it.
The tournament, held at Colleton River Plantation in Bluffton, S.C., was suspended twice — first for nearly an hour-and-a-half at 12:59 p.m. because of dangerous weather, then again at 2:43 p.m. for the same reason. Play didn’t resume until 5:15 p.m., and then was suspended due to darkness at 6:27 p.m.
Ultimately, the senior-to-be Welch finished at 14-over with a two-day score of 158, including a second-round score of 83. He tied for 121st place.
Bryant, who will be a sophomore this fall, finished in a tie for 137th at 17-over (161). He shot an 80 in the second round spanning Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lee finished at 22-over for the tournament for a two-round total of 166, and tied for 149th overall. He shot an 88 on Tuesday after shooting 78 on Monday. Lee will be a senior in the fall.
Gillian Vance of Dakota Ridge, the defending Class 5A champion who graduated in the spring, finished in a tie for 117th place at 13-over (153) for the two-day stroke play event. She shot a 73 on Tuesday, which followed Monday’s round of 80.
Vance is headed to the University of Colorado in the fall.
Morgan Sahm, who will be a senior at Grandview in the fall, finished at 15-over (155) for the tournament. She shot a 78 on Tuesday, and a 77 on Monday to place in a tie for 128th.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur championship tournaments are next month. A number of golfers from local high schools have qualified.
A total of five golfers from local high schools took part as the U.S. Junior Amateur golf tournaments began play on Monday.
Three boys competed at Colleton River Plantation Club in Bluffton, S.C.: Subin Lee of Cherry Creek, Coby Welch of Valor Christian, and Davis Bryant of Eaglecrest.
The two girls played at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.: Gillian Vance, a recent Dakota Ridge graduate, and Morgan Sahm of Grandview.
In the boys tournament, Valor Christian’s Welch shot a 3-over 75 and sits in a tie for 58th. Cherry Creek’s Lee carded a 6-over 78, leaving him in a tie for 101st, and Eaglecrest’s Bryant shot a 9-over 81, and is in a tie for 132nd.
The leaders, a group of three, finished 4-under on the first day.
The girls tournament was suspended at 3:05 p.m. because of dangerous weather near Tulsa with Vance on the 12th hole and Sahm on the 14th. When play resumed at 5:45 p.m., Grandview’s Sahm finished at 7-over 77, which currently has her in 115th place. Vance, the Dakota Ridge grad, finished at 10-over (80), and is in 138th.
A few golfers were still on the course during the first round when play was suspended due to darkness at 7:38 p.m. The leaders are at 4-under.
Both tournaments follow the same format: A total of 156 golfers compete in stroke play over two rounds on Monday and Tuesday, with the field then cut to 64 for match play Wednesday through Saturday.
Bryant finished in a tie for 30th at the Class 5A state tournament as a freshman last season at 14-over. Lee, who will be a senior this fall, finished in a tie for 58th (+21) in 5A. Welch, who will also be a senior, tied for fourth place at the 4A championships last fall at 2-over.
On the girls side, Vance won last year’s 5A state tournament, which was shortened by rain. She graduated in the spring, and will head to the University of Colorado this fall.
Sahm finished in a tie for third at that same 5A girls meet last season. Sahm will be a senior this fall.
