Golf - The Durango Herald

Hawaii’s Sony Open a fresh start for many golfers

HONOLULU – For the 31 players at the Sony Open who took the 30-minute flight over from Maui, the decision to play was easy. They’re already in Hawaii, guaranteed a tropical climate and the c...

DATE: Jan 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Masters plans for a limited spectators in April

Some volume is returning to the Masters, just maybe not the head-turning roars. Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said Tuesday the club intends to allow a limited number of sp...

DATE: Jan 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

PGA Championship cancels event at Donald Trump’s course

KAPALUA, Hawaii — The PGA of America cut ties to President Donald Trump when it voted Sunday to take the PGA Championship event away from his New Jersey golf course next year. The...

DATE: Jan 11, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Harris English wins Tour of Champions in playoff for 1st victory in 7 years

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Harris English was that player who always wanted the ball for the last shot. His trouble the last couple of years was getting off the bench and into the game. En...

DATE: Jan 11, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Harris English having a whale of a time at Tournament of Champions

KAPALUA, Hawaii – A new year, and Harris English keeps right on rolling. English finished with a 10-foot birdie to cap off an ideal Friday of low scores and whale watching at the...

DATE: Jan 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Justin Thomas, Harris English share lead on idyllic start to new year

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Defending champion Justin Thomas began the new year with an 8-under 65, a share of the lead with Harris English and no bogeys on his card, all of which made him happy Thurs...

DATE: Jan 7, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Maui musings: 5 questions for a new year in golf

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele were discussing the quality of a certain golf shot, not belonging to either one of them, when the conversation turned into the self-depr...

DATE: Jan 7, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Dustin Johnson charges into 2021 after Masters win

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Dustin Johnson will have gone 53 days from tapping in for par to win the Masters by five shots to blasting his tee shot down the hill at Kapalua toward the Pacific horizon....

DATE: Jan 6, 2021 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Tiger Woods’ son makes TV debut with impressive golf

The guy with a swoosh on his shirt and a Tiger head cover on his driver looked pretty good. So did Tiger Woods. Charlie Woods, the 11-year-old son of the 15-time major ...

DATE: Dec 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

When it’s Tiger Woods, the son becomes more famous than dad

ORLANDO, Fla. – Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods turned pro about the same time and have played in some 170 tournaments around the world together. That gave Harrington enough experience to...

DATE: Dec 18, 2020 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

A Lim Kim wins U.S. Women’s Open debut with record-tying rally

HOUSTON – The Bermuda grass of south Texas was unlike anything A Lim Kim had ever seen. The U.S. Women’s Open, with its reputation as the toughest test, was a major she had never played. ...

DATE: Dec 15, 2020 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Tiger Woods to play with 11-year-old Charlie in Father-Son

Tiger Woods still has one tournament left this year that might feel as big as any to him. The PNC Championship announced Thursday that Woods will play with 11-year-old son Charlie...

DATE: Nov 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s