Golf - The Durango Herald

Jepson wins tournament in playoff; Durango boys golf dominates Hillcrest tournament

Demons golfers had a perfect day to shoot low

DATE: Aug 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Wyndham Clark gets a Colorado homecoming at the BMW Championship

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — Wyndham Clark is feeling more pressure than usual at the BMW Championship. Hometown events are not all that unusual on the PGA Tour — Max Homa and Collin Morikawa ...

DATE: Aug 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

DHS roundup: Boys golf wins again, softball goes 1-2

Demons softball played in two blowouts to begin season

DATE: Aug 20, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango’s Sean Johnson wins World Long Drive World Championship

Johnson won his first world championship on Sunday, Aug. 11 in Atlanta

DATE: Aug 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango boys golf starts season with win at Cortez

Demons brought 14 players and had three teams at Conquistador Golf Course

DATE: Aug 9, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango boys golf looks to contend with returning depth

Demons lose top golfer from last year

DATE: Aug 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Offseason acquisitions: Fort Lewis golf

Both golf teams look to be more competitive starting in fall

DATE: Aug 1, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Xander the Great! Schauffele wins the British Open for his 2nd major this year

TROON, Scotland (AP) — Xander Schauffele went from the most nerve-wracking putt of his career to the coolest walk toward an 18th green he ever imagined. He won a nail-biter at the PGA Champi...

DATE: Jul 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Best performances from Durango High School’s fall athletes

Many teams made playoff runs in fall of 2023

DATE: Jul 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

AJ Ott holds on to win 60th San Juan Open

Colorado native wins third pro event; Farmington’s Yost wins amateur title

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Ott (-19 under) comes out on top in 60th San Juan Open

Colorado native shoots four-under 67 on Sunday to win by four shots

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Best spring performances from Durango High School student-athletes

Demons spring sports had many bright spots

DATE: Jun 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

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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