Two tournaments, two wins for two different Durango High School boys golf stars.
After junior Levi Tichi started the season Monday with a 5-under-par round for a four-shot victory at Adobe Creek National Golf Club in Fruita, junior Anthony Flint scored a 2-under-par 70 Thursday at Cobble Creek Golf Club in Montrose to secure a one-shot victory ahead of Montrose’s Jordan Jennings.
“I have been playing a lot of golf lately, but I hadn’t put together a full round in awhile,” Flint said. “It was good to see it finally come together today and to see all of the hard work I’ve been putting in pay off.”
Flint’s round paired with the play of Tichi, who shot a 2-over 74, and an 85 from Luke Carlson, Durango tied three-time defending CHSAA Class 4A state champion Montrose at the top of the team leaderboard with three-player scores of 229. That came after DHS finished second to Montrose by only three shots Monday.
Flint was hot from the opening tee shot Thursday. He birdied the opening par-4 that played 328 yards as well as the par-5 second. He added birdies at the par-4 10th and the par-5 at No. 13. He had two bogeys on his scorecard but avoided anything worse.
“It was a pretty boring round of golf, honestly,” he said. “I think I hit 16 out of 18 greens. I just had a lot of two-putts. I had a couple of birdies in there. Really, it was consistent golf that helped me. Hitting fairways and greens makes golf so much easier.”
Jennings was at 3 under through 10 holes. He, too, had birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 10. But a bogey on 11 and another on the par-3 17th saw him give two shots back to finish with a 1-under 71.
Tichi placed fourth with his 74. One hole cost him momentum at the turn, as he made a double-bogey on the 525-yard, par-5 ninth to go to the back-nine even after he had birdied Nos. 2, 6 and 8 with a bogey on the par-3 seventh.
Tichi would play par golf on the back-nine aside from a bogey on the par-3 11th and another on the very short par-4 No. 15, which played only 264 yards.
Carlson shot a strong 85 to give the Demons their third team scorer. He finished 19th with nine pars on his scorecard. DHS senior Jacob Genualdi shot an 89 to finish in 25th. A.J. Folk rounded out the Demons team with a 102 to tie for 42nd.
Durango and Montrose will get a chance to go head-to-head again Friday at Black Canyon Golf Course in Montrose.
“It’s a little bit different than Cobble Creek,” Flint said of Black Canyon. “There’s a lot less water. I am confident on it and have had good rounds there in the past. We will try to carry momentum from today to tomorrow.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
