Golf is one of the most frustrating sports. The Durango High School boys golf team knows that all too well.
After coming into the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships ranked 11th in 4A, the Demons had an off two days at Fox Hill Club in Longmont and finished 14th as a team to end their season.
Durango had hopes of winning the team and individual titles. But golf is a game where two days can overshadow two months of hard work and success.
“We just really didn't play very well,” Durango head coach Kirk Rawles. “That's just kind of it. It was really nothing in particular. Nolan (Pace) had a pretty good first round and Drew (Jepson) kind of hung in there in the first round, but just never really got it together. I think we were all disappointed in how it finished out. But we’re not going to let it take away from the really good year everybody had.”
The state championships were decided after 18-hole rounds on Monday and Tuesday. The team scores were taken from each team’s top three scores from each day. The two days were then combined for each team’s final score.
Durango finished 14th out of 15 teams with a team score of 64-over-par after two days. The Demons’ top three scores were a combined 28-over-par on Day 1 and 36-over par on Day 2. Mead took the team title at 20-over-par with Broomfield in second at 30-over-par and Highlands Ranch was third at 34-over-par.
The Demons faced tricky conditions at Fox Hill. The temperatures was around 48 degrees on both days when Durango teed off, there was some wind and the sun wasn’t out on either day, according to Rawles. This changed how the course played, especially compared to the team’s practice round when the temperature was in the low 80s.
Senior Nolan Pace led the Demons with a tied-33rd place finish at 16-over-par after the 36 holes of golf. He shot 4-over-par in the first round with a clean scorecard with one birdie, 12 pars and five bogeys. Day 2 was more of a struggle as he finished 12-over-par.
Hunter Simmons from Grand Junction won the individual title at 1-under-par. Mead’s Stryker Leick and Northridge’s Everett Lewis finished tied-second at 1-over-par.
Rawles said the temperature might’ve been a factor with Pace as he tried to figure out the right club for the yardage in the colder temperatures. Missing the green was especially troublesome for the players since the greens weren’t very receptive to chips, according to Rawles.
“We never really got the feel for the greens, which way they would break and the nuances of the greens,” Rawles said. “So that factored into it. Even coach Barrett and I played a practice around on Saturday. You'd look at something and think, ‘That's got to go right to left.’ You’d play it that way and it would break left to right.”
Junior Drew Jepson had a tough end to his season. Jepson was ranked inside the top 10 going into the state championships and finished as a member of the first team all-conference in the Southwestern League. But, Jepson finished the state championships tied 46th at 19-over-par. Jepson had a decent Round 1 going and was 1-over-par after nine holes, but struggled with some three-putts and finished the first day 6-over-par.
The second day was more of a struggle as Jepson had a colorful scorecard, including a nine on the par 5 14th, a hole he eagled in the practice round, according to Rawles. Jepson finished Day 2 at 13-over-par.
It was a what-could’ve-been type of tournament for Jepson, as he had beaten Simmons multiple times this year in high school tournaments. Despite the state championships not going like he wanted to, Rawles was proud to see Jepson be one of the first ones to congratulate a fellow Western Slope golfer in Simmons on his state title.
Senior Wyatt Lafferty finished his high school golf career for the Demons in 74th at 30-over-par. He shot 19-over-par on the first day, but rebounded to lead Durango on Day 2 with an 11-over-par performance.
“He just hits the ball beautifully,” Rawles said about Lafferty. “He just hits it solid. You could hear it. It's a sound when that ball comes off the club, you know he hits it solid. He just couldn't get his putter going.”
Junior Hayes Malone finished 76th for Durango after shooting 32-over-par for the tournament. Malone just couldn’t find the momentum he needed, according to Rawles, and he shot 18-over-par on Day 1 and 14-over-par on Day 2. The par 4 16th hole was a thorn in Malone’s side both days, as he shot a triple and a quadruple bogey there.
Durango will miss Pace and Lafferty’s production next season. Pace also made first team all-conference in the Southwestern League. However, Jepson will be back to lead the team as he looks to finish his high school career off on the right note. Malone will also return for his senior year. Other players like Zane Compton, Brody and Parker Lafferty and Jakob Maycock could step up next year.
“To take all four guys to state that's huge anyway,” Rawles said. “So that was a big hurdle and it was great to get there.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
