After six road tournaments to start the season, the Durango girls golf team finally had a home tournament at Hillcrest Golf Club on Monday.

Unfortunately for the Demons and the other seven teams competing, conditions were horrible. Temperatures were in the low 40s with gusts of winds around 20 miles per hour and snow fell sporadically.

Because of the changing weather on Monday, the first few groups had to putt through snow at certain points.

“It’s odd conditions, especially with the wind and these greens really aren’t holding well yet,” Durango head coach Kirk Rawles said. “They haven’t watered them much so when you hit the green it’s just going to bounce off, especially when the wind is 20 miles per hour and downwind. I told my girls at the start of the day to play to the front of the green and when you’re against the wind to take some more club.”

Despite the conditions, Durango was able to finish second with a team score of 246. Piedra Vista finished first with a 234. Montezuma-Cortez was third with a 252, Montrose was fourth with a 302 and Alamosa was fifth with a 303.

“They’re tough,” Rawles said about Piedra Vista. “They’re probably perennial favorites to win New Mexico as far as state goes.”

Each team’s score is the top three players’ rounds from the team added together.

Piedra Vista’s Annie Yost won the tournament with a 68, which is a women’s record at Hillcrest. Montezuma-Cortez sophomore Amita Crowley finished tied second with a 79 with Durango junior Ellie White.

“I felt like I did really good on the front,” White said. “But on the back, I had two doubles that affected me but I was able to come back and I had a birdie and finished out with two pars with the snow in my face. I was happy about that and happy to break 80.”

White said it helped her that she was playing with her friend Yost because Yost’s exceptional play pushed White to pick up her game.

She also said the wind wasn’t that big of an adjustment but putting in the snow was. White was happy with her short game and how she came back mentally with some mess-ups.

“I love Hillcrest, I think it’s a fun course,” White said. “It’s nice to play here and be able to go home after. As a team, the away tournaments we did were fun.”

Durango freshman Dylan Livingston finished fifth with an 82 and Durango junior Raimee Brant finished tied eighth with an 85.

Brant said her irons and hybrids were strong in the tough conditions. She hopes to break 80 in a tournament this year.

“It just made my hands cold and the wind made your ball move in different directions,” Brant said about the weather.

Demons junior Myla Glaser finished tied 18th with a 102 and sophomore Riley Harms finished 20th with a 103.

Durango quickly moved on to Cortez on Tuesday to play at Conquistador Golf Course where the Demons finished third with a score of 267. Piedra Vista won with a 232 and Montezuma-Cortez finished second with a 266.

Livingston led Durango with an 83 which was good for fourth place. White tied for fifth with an 85. Brant was 14th with a 99 and Glaser was 15th with a 101. Yost won once again with a 71 for Piedra Vista.

“I don't know that we've ever had a freshman that has shot that many rounds in the 80s,” Rawles said about Livingston. “For her to be a freshman and getting their feet wet that's a great sign. When we went up to Montrose she got a little bit better there and then she played outstanding here for two days.”

Rawles said it was a little warmer at Conquistador than it was at Hillcrest but even windier. He said Conquistador was in beautiful shape and it’s the best it has looked at this time of year.

After the tournament at Conquistador, the Demons are ranked sixth in the state in 4A according to Rawles.

Rawles emphasized at Hillcrest how the regular season is for seeding in regionals but the one day at regionals can make or break a player’s season.

“Everybody gets to go to regionals,” Rawles said. “We take four players, they take three out of four scores there. At regionals, the top two teams get to go to state based on that one day and then 13 individuals.”

Durango has over a week off until its next tournament at San Juan Country Club in Farmington.

bkelly@durangoherald.com