The Durango High School girls golf team practiced just twice on grass before its first tournament, but the Demons still posted some low scores Monday at the Chipeta Kickoff Classic Monday in Palisade.
Junior Zayda Mestas shot a 75 to lead Durango, which tied her for second place in the tournament’s field of about 60 golfers. Junior Natasha Walcott shot a 79 to place sixth, and freshman Ellie White shot an 83 to round out Durango’s team score and finish 10th individually.
Juniors Claire Paul and Eliza Bosmans also played on Durango’s varsity. Paul shot an 87, and Bosmans shot 97.
Three DHS freshmen also competed unattached: Avery Rike (100), Shae Madrid (100) and Raimee Brant (118).
“The course is really short, so it was a great opening course for these kids,” said DHS head coach Kirk Rawles, noting that the course had a bunch of par-3s and was pretty flat. Monday was sunny and about 55 degrees.
“It was just great to get out, be on some grass and get the girls going,” Rawles said.
The Demons returned with a team runner-up trophy, but Rawles said there was a scoring discrepancy and that the Demons actually won the tournament. Rawles noted that teams have to declare their five varsity members ahead of time and then the top three of those scores count toward the team score. Montrose’s No. 6 golfer, however, bested her teammates, and her score was mistakenly tabulated into MHS’ score.
“We’re looking to get that resolved,” Rawles said.
To get ready for the season, the team practiced at DHS, working on their swings by hitting Wiffle balls into nets.
The team then held its qualifier round on a golf simulator at Hillcrest Golf Club.
“It’s not ideal, but it was the only option,” Rawles said.
The team has 34 girls out, which is a record high for the program.
Senior Summer Bonnar, who competed on Durango’s regional team last year, is back, but didn’t compete in Palisade. Mestas and Walcott also return with state experience after competing in last year’s championships. The Demons placed sixth at the state tournament last year, but did lose its No. 1 player, Lilly Tichi, to graduation.
The Demons have high expectations again this year.
“First off, we’d like to win or get second at regionals; then our whole team is qualified for state,” Rawles said. “We finished sixth at state last year, so we’ll keep working on moving up that ladder. Outside of that, our philosophy is pretty user friendly.”
He said two assistant coaches are working to help develop the other girls’ skills. “We want to sift through and make it a good experience for them and keep building for the future,” Rawles said.
With the regional championships to be contested at Cobble Creek in Montrose and the 4A state tournament being held at Grand Junction’s Tiara Rado this year, Rawles said he designed the team’s schedule around the two courses. DHS will compete at both during the season and play practice rounds there after other competitions.
“It’s very rare to have regionals and state on the Western Slope,” Rawles said. “We’ll focus on those two courses and get in as many rounds as we can.”
DHS will next play in Montrose, at Cobble Creek and Black Canyon, April 5-6.
The Demons will host their home tournament April 18 at Hillcrest and compete in Cortez the following day. DHS will also compete twice in New Mexico, in Aztec on April 11 and Farmington on April 25.
And with the weather warming up, the Demons might not be swinging indoors much longer.
“We’re excited to get to Hillcrest, get some mileage put in these kids and get going,” Rawles said.
