The Fort Lewis College men’s and women’s golf teams came away with sixth-place finishes at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships on Monday and Tuesday at Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Arizona.
The FLC men shot a team score of 866 on the 6,737-yard par-71 course. The women shot 983 on the par-72 course that measured 5,969 yards.
“I thought the course setup was pretty fair,” FLC head coach Guy Begay said. “The greens weren’t running too quick, but the pin positions, some of them were pretty questionable, but others were pretty easy. I thought the tournament played pretty well. The course conditions were great, we hardly had any wind. Honestly, I expected the winning score to be lower than it was, but the course played hard for some reason. I think it was because the greens ran a little slower than we’re used to and it was a little bit of an adjustment for all teams.”
Begay said no FLC players qualified for the South Central Regional tournaments next month, pointing to the depth of the region, which he believes is one of the best in the nation.
Colorado School of Mines won the RMAC men’s title with a team score of 839. Four Orediggers shot under par in the final round to help push the team past Regis University, which was second with an 840.
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs won the women’s title with an 892, well clear of Colorado Mesa’s second-place score of 917.
Eight teams plus Westminster College, which competed as individuals while the Griffins complete their final year of a transition period from NAIA to NCAA Division II, were at the men’s tournament, while 11 teams and Westminster played in the women’s tournament.
Colin Prater of UCCS won the men’s individual title for the second year in a row after he shot in the 60s all three rounds. He shot a 14-under 199 with rounds of 63-69-67.
Mines’ George Markham shot 67-68-68 to finish second at 10-under, and Regis’ Tyler Zhang and UCCS’ Jack Duguid tied for third with 5-under 208s.
Zane Sauer led FLC with a 1-over 214 after the junior from Montrose shot 72-73-69 to finish tied for 14th. There were 45 players at the tournament.
“We have one more year with Zane and I expect him to keep on track,” Begay said. “He’s been very solid and shot around par all year ’round. We hope he can keep that up moving forward. He’s going to work hard on his game all summer.”
Tyler Blohm came out with a 2-under 69 in the first round before shooting rounds of 78 and 73 to finish tied for 25th with teammate Hugh Taylor at 220. Taylor shot a 9-over 80 in the first round before back-to-back rounds of 70.
Matt Huntley tied for 29th with a 221. He shot 73-74-74. Austin Lienemann shot 80-70-73 for a 223 to finish 32nd.
On the women’s side, UCCS’ Julia Baroth captured the individual title with a 1-over 217. She shot 72-71-74 to win by five strokes. UCCS’ Alex Darwin was second with a 222 after rounds of 73-73-76.
Regis’ Kelsey Thompson and UCCS’ McKenna Vanko tied for third with 8-over 224s. There were 59 women at the tournament.
Summer Vigil was the low Skyhawk with a 16-over 232 to place 15th. She shot 75 and 74 in the first two rounds, then struggled with an 83 in the final round. She was the only FLC player to break 80 at the tournament.
“Summer played really well the first two rounds and was in a position to finish in the top five, which would have been good for the All-RMAC team,” Begay said. “The final round, she had a little difficulty off the tee and put herself in a couple bad positions to where she was scrambling a lot and didn’t get up and down as much as she did in the first two rounds.”
Isabella Martinez shot 82-82-80 to finish 27th at 28-over, and Sohie Schwartz fired rounds of 80-86-81 for a 247 to finish inside the top 30, with a tie for 28th. Kara Tschirhart tied for 44th with a 265 after she shot 91-84-90, and Amanda Westrick rounded out the FLC team with a 266, good for 46th with rounds of 90-90-86.
The FLC teams’ seasons ended at the RMAC Championships, however, the FLC women will have host duties for the women’s South Central Regional, which will be held May 7-9 at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango.
“It is a pretty big deal for the city of Durango, and Hillcrest becoming a bona fide championship golf course in the sense that it’s hosting an NCAA regional,” Begay said. “That’s a pretty big deal for Durango, southwest Colorado, Hillcrest and Fort Lewis.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
