Seeking a record-tying third individual Colorado state high school title, Maddy Bante builds 3-stroke lead; defending champ Logan Hale fires 67 in 4A; Ashleigh Wilson just ahead of 2023 winner Brenna Higgins in 5A
By Gary Baines – 5/20/2024
In her final high school golf tournament, Maddy Bante of St. Mary’s Academy has the chance to do what just three other golfers in Colorado history — female or male — have accomplished:
Win three state high school individual titles.
And, halfway through the 2024 state tournaments, the senior is on track to do just that. Bante shot a 1-under-par 71 on Monday at the Olde Course at Loveland to grab a three-stroke lead going into the final round of the 3A state meet.
Should she prevail on Tuesday, Bante would join Lynn Ann Moretto of Cherry Creek (state titles in 1995, ’96 and ’97, all in a single classification); Ashley Tait of Mullen (2002, ’04 and ’05 in 4A); and Hailey Schalk of Holy Family (2017 and ’18 in 3A and ’19 in 4A) as a three-timer. It should be noted that Schalk had a chance for an unprecedented four-peat, but the Colorado High School Activities Association announced that it was canceling the 2020 spring sports and activities season, including that for girls golf, due to safety concerns regarding Covid-19.
Bante, who will play her college golf at Notre Dame, has finished second, first and first in her first three state tournaments. On Monday, she made an eagle — on the 416-yard, par-5 seventh hole — to go along with two birdies and three bogeys.
The closest challenger to Bante is junior Hope Torres of Prospect Ridge, who opened with a 74 despite three double bogeys.
Bante’s St. Mary’s Academy is looking for a fourth consecutive 3A team title, but will need to rally make it a reality as it trails leader Prospect Ridge by 10 strokes.
Meanwhile, in Class 4A at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs, senior Logan Hale of Erie put herself in very good position to claim her second straight state high school individual crown. Hale, the only Coloradan to compete in last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior at the Air Force Academy, recorded a 4-under-par 67 despite bogeying her final hole on Monday.
That will give Hale an eight-stroke lead over Pueblo Central’s Sofia Contreras going into Tuesday. Taylor Hale, Logan’s younger sister and Erie teammate, shares third place at 79 with Makena Thayer of Battle Mountain.
Logan Hale, a University of Denver signee who grew up as a member at the Country Club of Colorado, was 5 under par through 10 holes on Monday and finished the day with six birdies and two bogeys. She won the 4A championship by eight strokes last year.
Junior Hadley Ashton of Erie, the 4A individual state champion as a freshman in 2022, struggled to an 11-over-par 82 on Monday. Ashton and Logan Hale competed as a team earlier this month in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
Erie, winner of the last two 4A state team titles, leads by a whopping 33 strokes strokes over Steamboat Springs in the team race.
In Class 5A at Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield, junior Ashleigh Wilson of Rock Canyon fired a 1-under-par 71 and holds a one-stroke lead over defending champion Brenna Higgins of Valor Christian, also a junior.
Wilson, who finished third in the 5A tournament last year and won the Colorado Junior PGA Championship and the CPGA Junior Match Play in 2023, made six birdies on Monday but played her final three holes in 3 over par.
Higgins, who won the 2023 CGA State Junior in addition to the 5A state title, recorded five birdies in her round of 72, but also struggled down the stretch, bogeying her final two holes. Ella Scott, a freshman at Valor, posted a 73 to stand in third place after making eagle at the par-4 17th hole.
Valor Christian, the two-time defending 5A state champion, leads the 5A team standings by 11 shots over Rock Canyon.
CLASS 5A LEADERS (Broadlands GC in Broomfield)
Team
Valor Christian 223
Rock Canyon 234
Cherry Creek 235
Fossil Ridge 237
Mountain Vista 245
Individual
Ashleigh Wilson, Rock Canyon 71
Brenna Higgins, Valor Christian 72
Ella Scott, Valor Christian 73
Addison Hines, Ralston Valley 74
Maddie Makino, Legend 74
Caitlyn Chin, Cherry Creek 74
Audrey Whitmore, Regis Jesuit 75
Ellie Barry, Fossil Ridge 76
Ava Hickey, Fairview 77
Ashley Chang, Rock Canyon 77
Raleigh Puzio, Brighton 77
CLASS 4A LEADERS (At CC of Colorado in CO Springs)
Team
Erie 228
Steamboat Springs 261
Holy Family 263
Windsor 272
Mullen 279
Individual
Logan Hale, Erie 67
Sofia Contreras, Pueblo Central 75
Makena Thayer, Battle Mountain 79
Taylor Hale, Erie 79
McKenzie Dolph, Conifer 80
Kaitlyn Grommeck, Steamboat Springs 80
Olivia Meyering, Ponderosa 81
Hadley Ashton, Erie 82
Chace Atkinson, Lutheran 83
Zoe Bar-Or, Littleton 83
CLASS 3A LEADERS (At Olde Course at Loveland)
Team
Prospect Ridge 249
St. Mary’s Academy 259
Aspen 260
Colorado Academy 265
Peak to Peak 267
Individual
Madde Bante, St. Mary’s Academy 71
Hope Torres, Prospect Ridge 74
Kyndra Johnson, Salida 79
Emma Garcia, Rye 79
Lenna Persson, Aspen 79
CheyAnne Schrick, Timnath 79
Amita Crowley, Montezuma Cortez 81
Macie Doherty, Sterling 83
Addison Dorsey, Manitou Springs 84
Brooke O’Sullivan, Aspen 84
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com