In a Colorado boys high school golf season which already has featured at least 11 rounds of 64 or lower — including a 59 — an unprecedented 4 state tourneys are on tap Monday and Tuesday
By Gary Baines – 10/4/2024
In a season which featured a golfer shooting a 13-under-par 59, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as any surprise, but the top scores at this week’s boys Regional tournaments were downright stellar.
In those state-qualifying events, five players shot 66 or lower, including two who carded 64s. All told, more than 10 broke 70.
So it will be interesting to see if that carries over to Monday and Tuesday, which marks the first time that four separate boys state high school golf tournaments will be conducted simultaneously, the Class 2A being added to the mix that in recent years also included 5A, 4A and 3A.
The first boys state high school tournament was held in Colorado in 1947, and from then through 1999 there was a single state meet. Things were separated into Class 5A and 4A starting in 2000, and 3A was added to the mix in 2008.
This fall, the 5A state tournament is set for Monday and Tuesday at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, the 4A at Tiara Rado GC in Grand Junction, the 3A at Walking Stick GC in Pueblo, and the inaugural 2A at The Club at Rolling Hills in Golden.
Certainly the highlight of the regular season, regardless of classification, was a 13-under-par 59 shot at Harmony Club in Timnath by Fossil Ridge senior Austin Barry on Aug. 27 in the second Northern League tournament of the season. That day, Barry reached the magic number of 59 by making one eagle and 11 birdies in a bogey-free day and won the tournament by nine strokes. Because regular-season record-keeping in Colorado high school golf has been hit and miss over the course of the 77 years the sport has been sanctioned at the high school level in the state, there’s no way to say definitively that’s the lowest score ever shot at that level in Colorado history. But odds are good that that total stands alone in high school golf in the Centennial State. (Perhaps some perspective can be provided as Wyndham Clark, last year’s U.S. Open winner, shot 64-64 at Pelican Lakes as a Valor Christian senior at the 2011 4A state meet.)
But there certainly have been numerous other rounds this season in which Colorado high school players have gone deep. Indeed, according to iWanamaker, at least 11 rounds of 64 or lower have been shot, including Barry’s 59 and 62s by Kellen Ball of Windsor (at Eaton Country Club) and Michael Rosman of Grandview (at Aurora Hills).
Three of those 64-or-lower scores have come from senior Tyler Long of Evergreen, who has committed to play his college golf at the University of Colorado: a 63 and two 64s. Two each have been carded by Brayden Forte of Cherokee Trail (63 and 64) and by Fairview freshman Ash Edwards, son of CU men’s head coach Roy Edwards (two 63s).
At regionals this week, scores of 65 or below came from Long (7-under 64 at Fox Hollow in 3A), Campbell McFadden of Valor Christian (8-under 64 at Broadlands in 5A), and Ky Korte of Grand Junction (6-under 65 at Black Canyon in 4A).
And, by the way, none of the aforementioned notes one of the best high school players in the state, one who qualified as a 16-year-old for the 2024 U.S. Amateur: Fairview’s Miles Kuhl, who will tee it up in the 5A meet at CommonGround.
Here at the team and individual champions from this week’s Regional state-qualifying tournaments:
5A Central at South Suburban GC — Team: Fossil Ridge -1; Individual: Sam Walker, Regis Jesuit, 66.
5A Western at Indian Tree GC — Team: Chatfield +6; Individual: Jesse Hand, Chatfield 69.
5A Northern at Broadlands GC — Team: Cherokee Trail -5; Individual: Campbell McFadden, Valor Christian 64.
5A Southern at Columbine CC — Team: Fairview -1; Individual: Miles Kuhl, Fairview 66.
4A Region 1 at CC of Colorado — Team: Cheyenne Mountain +12; Individual: Brayden Destefano, Cheyenne Mountain 74.
4A Region 2 at Foothills GC — Team: Highlands Ranch +18; Individual: Billy Verstraate, Highlands Ranch, 68.
4A Region 3 at Pelican Lakes — Team: Monarch +17; Individual: Kellen Ball, Windsor, 71.
4A Region 4 at Black Canyon GC — Team: Grand Junction -6; Individual: Ky Korte, Grand Junction 65.
3A Region 1 at Conquistador GC — Team: Montezuma-Cortez +13; Individual: Vince Lopez, Montezuma-Cortez 70.
3A Region 2 at Fox Hollow — Team: Evergreen Even; Individual: Tyler Long, Evergreen, 64.
3A Region 3 at Quail Dunes GC — Team: Resurrection Christian +11; Individual: Nicholas Brooks, Lutheran, 73.
3A Region 4 at Snowmass Club — Team: Aspen +13; Individual: Houston Benvenuto, Aspen 69.
2A Region 1 at Hollydot GC — Team: Monte Vista +12; Individual: Damien Baca, Las Animas 70.
2A Region 2 at CommonGround GC — Team: Golden View Classical Academy +24; Individual: David Thomson Golden View Classical Academy, 72.
2A Region 3 at Murphy Creek GC — Team: Sterling +22; Individual: Isaiah Fowler, Frontier Academy 74.
2A Region 4 at Devil’s Thumb GC — Team: Vail Mountain +36; Individual: Sam Casey, Vail Christian 73.
For Monday’s pairings for the state tournaments, CLICK HERE.
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