For the first time in six years, the Durango boys golf team took a team of players to the state championship. Sophomore Drew Jepson, junior Nolan Pace and seniors Owen Muraro and Ben Ogden made the trip to Grand Junction at Tiara Rado Golf Course. The Demons faced off against the best teams and players in 4A on Monday and Tuesday.
Durango finished fourth as a team after 36 holes over two days. The Demons finished with a team score of 467 or +41 over par. Team scores were determined by the top three players on each team.
“I was pretty psyched,” Durango head coach Kirk Rawles said. “We kept our position and were close to getting into third. We ended up nine strokes out of third over two days. At one point we were looking to inch up a little bit. But all in all, a great season.”
The Demons were ranked fourth in the state coming into the state championship. Cheyenne Mountain won the team state championship with a team score of 429 or +3 over par. Grand Junction came in second on its home course at +14 over par. Windsor came in third with a 458 team score of +32 over par.
Rawles said the conditions at Tiara Rado were beautiful without much wind either day. It was the second time the Demons played on the course this year. The greens were rolling exceptionally fast and the pin placements were in some “diabolical spots,” according to Rawles. Players had to putt defensively because of this and the slopey nature of the greens or else the putt could end up across the green or off it.
Jepson has been the top golfer for Durango this year and made a goal before the season to finish in the top 10 at state. He finished ninth at state and as the top Demon golfer. Jepson finished +10 over par after shooting a 77, +6 over par, for the first day and a 75 the second day. Cheyenne Mountain’s Brayden Destefano won the individual title at -4 under par for the tournament.
In the first round, Jepson had a bogey on the first hole, an eagle on the second hole, a par on the third and a double bogey on the fourth hole. He finished the first nine +2 and finished the second nine +4. Jepson had an eagle, three birdies, five pars, seven bogeys and two double bogeys. He lost a ball that hit a cart path and that cost Jepson two strokes. He also had four three-putts that day according to Rawles.
“Other than that, his ball striking was really good,” Rawles said about Jepson. “He was hitting his driver really well. That was kind of it, in a nutshell, was a few three putts and losing a ball. Then the same thing the second day he hit the ball pretty solidly and he might have had a couple of three-putts. But for that course and wherever you're at, he played really pretty solid for a few days. It was tough to be aggressive with your putting.”
Jepson had a more consistent second day with one birdie, 12 pars and five bogeys
Behind Jepson for Durango was senior Owen Muraro in 13th place with a tournament score of +13. He shot an 80 on the first day and a 75 on the final day.
Muraro had an eagle, a birdie, eight pars, five bogeys, two double bogeys and a triple bogey in round one. Muraro bounced back for his second round and had one birdie, five bogeys and 12 pars.
Rawles said there were definitely some nerves in the first round for the Demons but those went away in the second round.
Jepson and Muraro were named First Team All-State for finishing in the top 20. Rawles said it’s the first time he can remember two Durango golfers on First Team All-State in his 17 years of coaching.
Junior Nolan Pace finished 24th as the final scorer for Durango’s team score with a +19 tournament score. He +8 the first day and +11 the second day. On the first day, Pace had three birdies, seven pars, seven bogeys and a quadruple bogey. He then had a birdie, nine pars, four bogeys and four double bogeys on the second day.
Senior Ben Ogden started the tournament well with a +8 in round one. He struggled with his second round and shot a +16 over par to finish 37th.
The Demons fielded a massive team this year with over 60 golfers. Muraro and Ogden will graduate but Durango returns a lot of talent for next year including Jepson, Pace and many others.
“I'm glad we managed the numbers we had so that the kids could come up and get some reps in and then understand what they'll need to do in the offseason …,” Rawles said. “By going to state, those guys that went to state, they’ll realize what they'll need to do to get there. We've planted a lot of seeds this year, for sure.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com