Winning the regional tournament two years in a row has elevated the goals of the Durango High School boys golf team.

“Win state,” senior Cameron Barnhardt emphatically said when asked what his target is this season.

After the first week of practice, there is plenty of reason for optimism about the Demons’ squad this season. They return all four players, Barnhardt, Cory Gillespie, Cy Spicer and Eric Walker, from last year’s regional championship team, and a batch of younger players already have proved they can break 80 during any given round.

The team played a qualifying round Wednesday at Hillcrest Golf Club, and the team came within three strokes of having five players break 80.

“With the group as a whole, we would love to do that at a varsity golf tournament,” head coach Kirk Rawles said. “We have some guys ready to step up who can probably make that happen.”

With a strong group of seniors, Rawles said he likes his team’s chances of winning a third consecutive regional championship. That’s still the primary goal before focusing on the state meet.

“These guys are all seniors and won regionals last year as juniors, and we won the year before that at regionals with some of these guys. We look pretty good going in,” Rawles said. “The seniors are smart, and they know the game.”

Gillespie, son of Jackie and Tracey Gillespie, has qualified for the state tournament three years in a row and will look to make it a clean sweep for his high school career this season. He finished 11th overall at state last year.

He feels better this year, too. He dealt with an elbow injury his junior season and had Tommy John surgery to replace the ulnar collateral ligament in one of his elbows.

He had the surgery in November and has been working on getting his swing back all summer.

“Never would’ve thought I’d need that surgery as a golfer,” Gillespie said. “I had to change my swing because of it last year, but my swing this year feels good. I’m pretty excited to start winning again.”

Barnhardt, who will aim for a third consecutive trip to the state tournament, also has spent a lot of time working on his game, and he’s ready to take it to the course this season.

“I’m definitely hitting it farther and better than last year. I think I’m getting better for sure,” said Barnhardt, son of Beth and Bob Barnhardt.

Walker got his first taste of the state tournament as a junior. He said he spent most of his time at state ‘chasing tarantulas’ around Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo but will look to improve on his finish as a senior at Foxhill Country Club in Longmont.

Then there is Spicer, last year’s regional champion after he fired a 1-over-par 72 at his home Hillcrest Golf Club. He has had a solid summer as he looks to improve on a 70th-place finish in his state debut last year.

“Cy is swinging it really well right now, solid,” Gillespie said of his teammate.

Renovations at Hillcrest Golf Club mean the Demons won’t host two days of tournaments this season. Instead, the Demons are reserved to one day, Sept. 14, at Dalton Ranch Golf Club. Because of the renovations, Rawles said he may pull some varsity players to practice at Dalton Ranch more, too.

Barnhardt and Spicer won’t travel with the team Monday, when the team will open its season at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction. The Demons will play again Tuesday at Redlands Mesa Golf Course, also in Grand Junction.

Joining Gillespie and Walker will be Robby Grogan, Lucas Robbins and Kobe Szura.

“We are ready to get going Monday and gauge where we are with all the other teams there,” Rawles said.

The regional tournament will be held in Steamboat Springs this year. The Sailors have been some of the stiffest competition for the Demons at regionals the last two years, and Rawles said he will take the team up to see the course a few days early to get them prepared for the tournament.

Gillespie said he is eager to win regionals three times in a row, and that tournament has Rawles’ full attention.

“It’s a pretty quick season, but we want to try to peak for regionals. It’s just one day, but its the biggest day,” he said.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com