Last summer, Ben Harding was riding high.
The Silver Creek golfer tied for second place in the Aurora Junior Championship and then won the Colorado Junior Match Play Championship all before beginning his junior season at Silver Creek. That momentum ultimately led him to snag third place at state with his Raptors also clinching third in Class 4A as a team.
Over this past summer, however, the strong results didn’t come as easy for Harding. He had just one top-10 finish and placed tied for 18th in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, a five-spot drop from his performance in the 2021 event.
The reigning Northern Colorado Athletic Conference individual champion is now in a different place entering his senior season. But it’s not all bad, he believes. Instead of the difficult results bringing him down, Harding’s humbling summer helped him address his weaknesses.
“Last summer I had a big win going right into the high school season, but my game wasn’t super solid,” Harding said at Broncos/CHSAA Fall Sports High School Media Day on Monday. “I learned a lot this year. I feel a lot better about where my game is at. Maybe not having played as well in the summer results-wise, I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and I’m really able to take that into changing some stuff going forward.”
Harding’s willingness to make adjustments is all in pursuit of getting Silver Creek its first boys golf state title since 2011.
“Win league, win regionals, win state, that’s kind of been our goal every year,” Harding said.
The personnel looks a little different this season for Silver Creek with Chris Hackenberg taking over head coaching duties. Plus, the Raptors will be without expected No. 2 golfer Josh Lurie, who Harding said broke his femur.
“It’s really tough losing him,” Harding said. “He’s such a great kid, he doesn’t deserve that senior year, but we still got three seniors.”
Tyler Plaster and Quinn Lockwood also comprise the senior class, which will be supported by junior Nick Horvath and sophomore Preston Waller. Harding and Waller have already found success this season with a first- and third-place finish, respectively, in a league meet hosted by Windsor on Aug. 11.
“We’re all working really hard,” Harding said. “We all know what the expectation is, so every day, practice is trying to think about the end goal.”
Harding and Silver Creek’s next league meet is on Tuesday at Twin Peaks Golf Course in Longmont.