The Durango High School girls golf team wrapped up one of its best seasons in years with an 11th place finish at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state tournament Monday and Tuesday at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs.
The Demons shot a team score of 316 on Monday, then 302 on Tuesday for a total of 618 on the 5,848-yard, par-71 course. There were 14 programs that competed in the team competition.
“I thought they did really well,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said. “For a lot of them it was their first time going to state. The course was the toughest challenge, but I thought for the most part the girls played pretty well.”
Windsor won the team title with a 515, followed by Glenwood Springs in second at 521 and Loveland in third at 522.
Cheyenne Mountain’s Maxine Choi won the individual title with 158 after rounds of 78 and 80. Choi birdied the 18th hole Tuesday to win the title by one shot ahead of Lauren Lehigh of Loveland.
The course didn’t give many players in the field an advantage during the two-day tournament. The greens were quick and pins were in tough positions to attack.
“For the majority of the field, a lot of the greens you need to hit it high to get it to the pin. If you were in the wrong spot, it led to a lot of three and four putts,” Rawles said. “Another thing was they rolled the greens Monday, so they were super fast. You really don’t get a break on any hole.”
Madalen Meier led the Demons with a 198 after rounds of 97 on Monday and 101 on Tuesday. She placed 39th overall.
Meier carded a birdie in each round. In the first round, she birdied the par-4 14th, then had a birdie on the 144-yard par-3 eighth in the second round.
Quinn Griswold was three shots back of Meier with a 201, which tied Erie’s Mara Wissman for 43rd overall. She shot 102 in the first round, then cut three shots during the second round for a 99. In the first round, Griswold birdied the 473-yard par-5 second hole. In the two rounds, she made six pars, the most pars among the Demons.
Lilly Tichi shot a 117 in the first round, then shaved 15 strokes from her score in the second round for a 102 and finished tied with Kayla Huber of Roosevelt for 59th overall with a 219.
“She’s only had two other starts in a tournament before this season, so for her to step up and make it to state, I think it showed a lot of maturity and development on her part to improve that much in the second round,” Rawles said of Tichi.
After starting the second round on No. 10 with a quadruple bogey, Tichi recorded pars on her next three holes before she hopped back on the bogey train for the rest of the round. The pars on Nos. 11, 12 and 13 were her only pars of the tournament.
Faith Mewmaw rounded out the DHS team with a 244 after scores of 124 and 120 to place 78th in the field of 84. The Animas High junior is a three-time state qualifier.
This season marked the first time in at least a decade the Demons sent four players to the state tournament. Grading the season as a whole, Rawles said he’d “definitely give it an A.” And looking to next season, Rawles and Demons are optimistic, especially considering all four state qualifiers will be back next season, as Griswold, Meier and Mewmaw will be seniors while Tichi will be a sophomore.
“I think they’re all pumped up,” Rawles said. “I’d have to look again, but I think the winning team had an average score of about 87 for their girls. I think that’s a score all of our girls can get to.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
