Zachery Griswold was one of the few players able to navigate the fast and sloped greens at the Bookcliff Country Club on Wednesday. The Durango High School golfer finished second out of 72 golfers in the 4A Region 4 championship, shooting a 3-over round of 74 to qualify for the state championships.

“He had a really good round last week at Pagosa,” said Durango golf coach Kirk Rawles. “He won the tournament and shot a 72 there. And so I think for him, it gave him some confidence going in. That confidence showed pretty much all the way through his game. He's a pretty steady player. Even in his round, he had a triple bogey. And so mentally he said, ‘You know what, I'm just gonna start putting together a bunch of pars’ and that's what he did.”

Durango finished fourth out of 18 teams in the region with a 239, one stroke away from being tied for second. The top two teams qualified for state. Grand Junction won the region with a 232, followed by Denver South (238), Mullen (238), Durango and Montrose (240).

“It all kind of came down to the end and if any one of those teams finds one or two more or three more strokes they're going as a full team,” Rawles said. “It was exciting for us to really be in the mix. But it is disappointing that we didn't, you know, and up on the right side of things.”

It’s the third year in a row Griswold has been the lone Durango High School golfer to make it to state. Owen Muraro finished tied for 17th at 82, missing out on state by one stroke. Drew Jepson shot an 84 to place 21st while Eli Holden finished 33rd with an 86.

Michael Dinapoll of Steamboat Springs won the individual title with a 73.

The Class 4A state championships will be held at the Bridges Golf & Country Club in Montrose on Oct. 2-3.