If there are any nerves about hosting the regional boys golf tournament in one week, the Durango Demons will be able to shake them out Monday and Tuesday on familiar confines.
Durango High School will host the Durango Invitational with two days of golf: Play will begin 10 a.m. Monday at Hillcrest Golf Club, with 114 players representing 15 different schools from Colorado and New Mexico; play will continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Dalton Ranch Golf Club, but scores will not carry over from Monday’s round into Tuesday. Instead, one winner will be crowned each day, the same as if the Demons hosted two separate tournaments.
“We’re excited about hosting regionals next week, and it will actually be nice for us to play (Monday) and Tuesday and maybe get over some of the home-field jitters,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said Sunday night. “Sometimes that can happen. You would love to see the guys do well on their home course, and they know it really well, but sometimes you might know the course too well.”
DHS is coming off a second-place finish at the two-day Southwestern League Championships in Montrose. The Demons finished one shot back of Grand Junction, who will play in the Durango Invitational. Rawles expects the Tigers and Montrose Indians to be the top team competition at the tournament.
“It was really nice to see at Black Canyon (Golf Club) that we had four shoot in the 70s,” Rawles said. “That helps make sure there’s not really any pressure on any one player. If somebody is having a bad day, someone can easily pick up the slack. Our guys have a comfort level knowing that.”
DHS also will face the players from Farmington for the first time this season. The Demons didn’t travel south of the border for any tournaments this year but are eager to face New Mexico’s Four Corners competition.
The last tee time of the day is 3 p.m., and rain is expected throughout the day.
The DHS varsity players won’t tee off until 1 p.m. in a group with players from Fruita Monument and Grand Junction.
Cameron Barnhardt, Cory Gillespie, Daniel McElwain, Cy Spicer and Erik Walker round out the DHS varsity squad, and all have had their share of success this season. Blake Martin, Kyle Pritchard, Lucas Robbins, Nick Roberts and Kobe Szura also have led a strong DHS junior varsity squad this season.
Rawles said a few of his JV players enjoy playing at Dalton Ranch more than Hillcrest, and he said the same may be true for Barnhardt, but the majority of team is most comfortable at Hillcrest, where they practice every day.
“It should be a fun couple of days. Not all the teams will stick around for both days, but it is good to have Grand Junction and Montrose here, because they have been tough all year,” Rawles said. “We know there will be tough individual players, as well.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
