4A boys golf state tournament: Thompson Valley’s Darren Edwards, Montrose claim titles
LITTLETON — Raccoon Creek was not in a very giving mood on Tuesday. It allowed just one golfer in the entire field at the Class 4A boys state golf tournament to shoot under par.
Thompson Valley’s Darren Edwards was not that golfer. But he didn’t have to be.
His one-over-par 73 on Tuesday was good enough to make him a champion, so he figured that would do for the day.
“I found my putter really well today,” Edwards said. “I put myself in good spots and I just played smart.”
He started the day in three-way tie with Valor Christian’s Jake Welch and Roosevelt’s Tyler Severin. It was a two-horse race after one as Severin started the day with a double-bogey.
Edwards was playing par golf for the first four holes and trouble around the fifth green led to his first bogey of the day. But it wouldn’t matter as Welch made double-bogey, so even at two-over for the tournament, Edwards had the outright lead.
He made another bogey on No. 8, but got it back with a birdie on nine and knew that he could start playing a little more aggressive golf. As a result, he made three birdies in four holes.
“On the back nine, I could be a little more aggressive when I needed to and do what I could do to score,” he said.
Eagle Valley’s Barrett Jones was the only player all day to shoot in red numbers. He was three-under on the day at one point and briefly held a share of the lead with Edwards.
Falcon’s Ryan Welsh was the only other player to even shoot one-over.
Montrose had the best day as an overall team. The Indians matched their effort of 17-over from Monday and held off Evergreen by six strokes to win the team championship. It’s the second title for the Indians with the first coming back in 2003.
“We had three sophomores and a freshman so that’s a good problem to have,” Montrose coach Dave Woodruff said. “It’s a neat little experience for these kids.”
The Indians had two finish in the top-10 in the tournament. Micah Stangebye (eight-over_ and Jordan Jennings (nine-over) were two big pieces of the Indians’ championship win.
“It feels good,” Stangebye said. “It was a fun stretch because we didn’t know what we were at and whether or not it was close.”
Knowing they were only up one stroke going into Tuesday’s final round made that part of it a little stressful, but Stangebye and his teammates were able to add a little bit of a cushion to lock up the first-place trophy.
Defending team champion Discovery Canyon finished sixth. Defending individual champion Luke Trujillo was just one of many victims of Raccoon Creek and finished with a 84 on Tuesday.
The conditions were also much more enjoyable for the second round as the clouds broke up and the sunshine that evaded Littleton all day Monday, finally made an appearance. That helped the conditions on the course which Edwards and the Indians fully took advantage of.
“It was a little warmer so the course dried out in the afternoon,” Edwards said. “This course did an awesome job.”
