The Durango High School boys golf team found its stride early in the 2013 season, finishing runner-up at Conquistador Golf Course on Wednesday in Cortez after shooting a season-best 232.
Cory Gillespie finished runner-up in the tournament’s individual standings with a season-best 74.
Bo Ward finished with a 78, Cameron Barnhardt an 80, Cy Spicer an 82 and Garrett Mulkey a 92 in the Demons’ third tournament this season.
“They’re starting to put more miles in,” DHS head coach Kirk Rawles said. “Cortez isn’t as technical as Rifle or Gypsum Creek.”
Montezuma-Cortez won the tournament as the host team with a 229, while Jakob Rudosky, the son of the Panthers’ head coach and the Conquistador club pro Micah Rudosky, took the individual title by shooting a 73.
The Demons also carried a full junior varsity team and two freshmen for a total of 13 golfers.
Trevor Bogus shot an 81, Eric Walker an 82, Daniel McElwain a 90, Dillon Hoselton a 95, Nikolai Walcott a 96, Josh Davoust a 96, Lucas Robbins a 101 and Jackson Steigelman a 107.
Nine golfers have competed at the varsity level for DHS this season, creating a healthy competition Rawles and the Demons have embraced.
“They want each other to do well and want to do better,” he said. “It fosters a really good energy.”
Some of that competition comes from sheer volume. Twice as many athletes tried out for golf as typically do, according to Rawles.
“We have to sift through a lot of the players trying to figure out what our next crop will bring,” he said.
DHS will play Thursday at the Pagosa Springs Golf Course.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
