Having a home-course advantage helped the Durango High School boys’ golf team Saturday at Hillcrest Golf Club.

The Demons shot a 226 as a team on the first day of the Durango Invitational/Southwestern League Championships to put them in second place heading into Tuesday’s second and final round at Dalton Ranch Golf Club.

Trevor Bogus and Bo Ward led the varsity team with 75s, followed by Cory Gillespie’s 76 and 79s for Cy Spicer and Cameron Barnhardt.

“We had all five varsity guys in the 70s, I don’t know if we’ve ever had that happen in Durango golf,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said.

Erik Walker shot better than all of them, finishing with a 74 for the junior varsity squad.

Grand Junction finished first with a 224, while Montezuma-Cortez, Fruita-Monument and Montrose all shot 227s as a team to round out the top five.

Cortez’s Jakob Rudosky won the individual medal with a 69.

Rawles was thrilled with the way his team played, but the Demons all weren’t satisfied. They knew they could play better.

“I fell apart on the back nine,” Cy Spicer, son of Scott Spicer, said.

Cameron Barnhardt wasn’t thrilled with his putting.

Trevor Bogus didn’t strike the ball well but scored with his chipping and putting.

Rawles was thrilled with that attitude from his players. “I like that they know they left a couple shots out there,” he said. “The next time they’re in that situation, they can do it a little better.”

The 17th hole taught DHS more lessons than it wanted to learn.

The Demons finished 8 over as a team on that hole.

DHS felt some of the pressure of playing as a “home team,” but handled it well.

The Demons enjoyed knowing the course and played up the “defending their turf” aspect of the tournament.

“We expect ourselves to win and do well here,” Trevor Bogus, son of Mike and Wendi Bogus, said.

The Demons will face similar expectations Tuesday at Dalton Ranch for the second and final day of the Durango Invitational/Southwestern League Championships.

They trail Grand Junction by two strokes currently and lead a trio of third place teams by just a stroke.

Players will be grouped Tuesday based on their scores Monday for a shotgun start beginning at 9 a.m.

“I think it’ll give them a lot of momentum,” Rawles said. “It’s gonna be a real tournament (Tuesday). I think they’ll step up to the challenge.”

kgrabowski @durangoherald.com