Durango finished the Southwestern League Championships right where it started: second place.
The Durango High School boys golf team followed its runner-up finish Tuesday at Black Canyon Golf Club in Montrose with a runner-up finish Wednesday at Bridges Golf & Country Club in Montrose. The end result after the two-day tournament was a second-place finish in league play.
“The kids played really well,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said.
Durango backed up its 225-team score Tuesday with a 226 on Wednesday, one stroke behind Grand Junction, which won the tournament with a two-day 445 total. Durango finished six strokes arrears.
“It was just well-played,” Rawles said.
Cy Spicer led the Demons with an even-par 71 on a difficult Bridges course, which placed him second Wednesday behind Hayden Plewe of Montezuma-Cortez, who shot a medalist 69.
Troy Dangler of Fruita Monument finished third Wednesday with a 73, and after his 68 on Tuesday was crowned the SWL champion with a 140.
Cameron Barnhardt shot a 77 on Wednesday for DHS, and Cory Gillespie shot a 78. Spicer finished fourth overall, Gillesipe sixth and Barnhardt seventh.
“We had a really good showing,” Rawles said.
Spicer, in particular, had “a career round for him.” Two birdies, two bogeys, and the rest were pars.
“He was just really relaxed,” Rawles said. “He kept some pretty good company on the Western Slope. He put together two solid rounds.”
Daniel McElwain and Erik Walker both shot 89s for the Demons’ varsity.
Kyle Pritchard led the Demons’ junior varsity with an 87, while Nick Roberts and Lucas Robbins both shot 89s. The Demons’ JV won back-to-back days to win the JV title.
Robbins and Pritchard finished 1-2, respectively, in the individual standings.
Blake Martin shot a 92, and Kobe Szura shot a 100.
“They’ve never seen the course. They had to adjust from Black Canyon’s greens to Bridges’ greens, and adjusting to the greens is one of the toughest things,” Rawles said. “They get 15 minutes (on the practice greens), then they go.
“They did a really good job with that.”
Durango next will host its DHS Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at Hillcrest Golf Club on Dalton Ranch Golf Club, respectively. Play at Hillcrest will start at 10 a.m. Monday, then 9 a.m. Tuesday.
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