Wind gusts can make life as a golfer difficult, particularly at Hillcrest Golf Club.
Some at Mondays Durango Invitational, however, managed it with aplomb.
The Durango High School girls golf team tied for fifth with Palisade, firing a 296 on Monday at the Durango Invitational, which doubled as Day 1 of the Southwestern League Championship.
Brooke Kniffin had the low score for Durango, tying for eighth by carding a 94 on Monday. Natalie Lyon shot a 99, Reiley Waldo a 103, Haleigh Lyon a 104 and Amanda Rydiger a 112 for the Demons.
Kiselya Plewe of Dolores won a scorecard playoff which breaks a tie in favor of the player who shot the lowest score on the highest handicap hole with Kala Keltz of Montrose for medalist honors after both shot a 77.
Palisades Kate Schuman was third with an 85. Taylor Walters of Rifle shot an 87, while Centrals Sam Medina and Montroses Madison Gill tied for fifth with 88s.
Montrose was first in the team competition with a 261. Grand Junction Central fired a 277, Grand Junction 284 and Dolores 295, with Durango and Palisade tying to round out the top five.
Kniffin was pleased to continue her run of scores in the 90s despite having a rough time on hole No. 17, crediting a strong start, including a par on the par-four first hole and another on the par-four sixth, for her overall performance.
The next step? Breaking 90.
I was surprised with the score I got just from not playing for a whole week. ... Ive shot in the 90s all season, so it got me closer to breaking 90, which is my goal, said Kniffin, daughter of Kelly and Rick Kniffin.
DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said before the event that he wanted his team to look to tweak its course management and shot selection. But with Mondays gusty conditions, both became difficult pursuits.
I think the wind kind of threw a different factor into that, he said. So it made it difficult to kind of grab the right club, perhaps.
Durango had done well so far this season to have multiple golfers break 100 in earlier events. And DHS wouldve gone lower Monday, Rawles said, if not for a couple of rough holes interrupting otherwise solid rounds from Haleigh and Natalie Lyon, whove been regular contributors to the under-100 club this season.
Outside of a couple blowup holes for Natalie, Haleigh and Brooke, they played pretty well, Rawles said. I mean, Haleigh shot a 104 with a 10 on one hole and an 11 on another. So one-fifth of her strokes, well say, were on two holes. The other 16 were pretty solid.
The wind likely affected putting more than any other area of individual players games.
On Hillcrests typically fast greens, trying to accurately putt a ball thats on the verge of blowing away becomes an even more arduous task.
The toughest part when its really windy is to putt, Rawles said. To stand over the ball when its sitting there oscillating is a really tough thing to do.
The scores both for teams and individuals will carry over to todays round at Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez, with individual scores determining the pairings for the 9:30 a.m. start.
Trying to jump a few spots on the leaderboard both individually and as a team places a bit more incentive to succeed on todays round, much like regionals and state.
For Kniffin, today provides a chance to work on her game around the green and another chance to crack into the 80s.
Ive been trying to work on my short game becaus e thats something that needs improvement, and (Monday), it wasnt my best, but hopefully by regionals, I will get that going, she said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
