The Durango High School boys golf team finished in eighth place at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state golf tournament held at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
The Demons posted a 31-over-par 247 on Tuesday. It was good enough to finish with a final round total of 58-over-par 490.
In his first appearance at the tournament, junior Ethan Whidden finished tied for 10th overall and shot a 5-over-par 77 in the final round to bring his total score to 153. Whidden shot even par on the front nine. Whidden bogeyed his first two holes, but rebounded and made par on holes 3-7 and birdied eight and nine. On the back nine, Whidden found his groove late again, making par on 15, 17 and 18.
The junior was still pleased with how his first-ever state tournament played out.
“I thought I played really well,” Whidden said. “I had my lowest round with a 76 on Monday and wanted to keep it up today. I knew what shots had to be hit and knew the dangers of the course, and so it ended up pretty well.”
Whidden thanked his coaches and his teammates for a great season.
“I just want to thank both coaches for a great year and a great tournament,” Whidden said. “They made it easy for me.”
When he looked at the final scoreboard and saw his name on the top-10 list, he knew he had a great state tournament.
“It’s a big deal for me,” Whidden said. “There were 81 kids here, and tying for 10th out of that field was really great. I had two really good scores and I think that’s what I was happiest with, which was playing good, steady golf both days.”
Head coach Kirk Rawles was impressed with Whidden’s composure.
“I thought it was a great couple of days for Ethan,” Rawles said. “He had a really great couple of days and stayed true and just played really good golf. Getting top 10 in the state is awesome.”
Freshman Levi Tichi rebounded Tuesday and posted a 7-over-par 79, which brought his total to 20-over-par and a 28th overall finish. Tichi’s Tuesday score was six strokes less than Monday, and Rawles was happy that he played much better.
“Levi bounced back and played some really nice golf,” Rawles said. “The stretch where he went 8-over on those three holes yesterday, he played even. And if he played his best ball, he would have been at 1-under-par. So, if you take that into account, you can put a nice perspective on it. He’s got a lot to look forward to over the next three years.”
Tichi made par on five out of his first nine holes on the front nine. He was able to find his groove late in the round and birdied No. 15 and played even on the final three holes.
The final freshman, Anthony Flint. had a tough final round, shooting 19-over-par 91. Flint made par on his first three holes of the morning, but on the fourth hole, ran into difficulties. Flint slipped and fell during his second shot and was unable to recover for the rest of the hole, or the front nine.
“Anthony had a tough day today,” Rawles said. “He couldn’t shake that fourth hole and his shots would either land on the wrong tier of the green and he’d have to fight that, or something else would happen. Unforutnately, the golf gods were not with him today, but he still had an excellent season and again, making the state championship as a freshman is something to look forward to next year.”
Overall, Rawles was impressed with the season and believes the Demons can build upon this season next year.
“We had a great couple of days and a great season as a whole,”Rawles said. “We’ve got some underclassmen on the team and we’re only graduating one senior out of 30, so we’re very optimistic.”
The Demons will return each of their top four golfers next season.
bploen@ durangoherald.com
