3A Boys Golf: Lutheran Sweeps Team, Individual Titles

EAGLE — Nicholas Brooks has been dreaming of this moment since he was 12.

“I’m speechless,” the Lutheran senior said after winning the 3A Colorado state boys golf championship on Tuesday.

Brooks bested the 84-athlete field with a two-round score of 134, finishing seven strokes clear of runner-up Jack Brayman of Peak to Peak. His two-day total of 10-under par at Eagle Ranch Golf Club propelled Lutheran to the team title, its first since 2019.

“It’s so special,” Brooks said. “We’ve worked so hard for this and it’s amazing to finally achieve it.”

In addition to its star senior, Lutheran’s Crew Fitzgerald bounced back from a 77 on day one to shoot 2-under and move into sixth overall. Junior Gavin Pittman, who joined the squad this year from Castle Rock, shot 157 to round out the scoring for the Lions (436), who finished in the same spot they have at pretty much every meet this year.

“Coming to the mountains is always an extra variable, but the boys came with the idea that they had a chance to win,” Lutheran coach Caine Fitzgerald said.

“It was a great team win.”

Timnath finished second in the team race.

While Mullen (448) spent most of the day in second, Timnath (447) slid into the runner-up spot by one stroke at the last minute. Houston Benvenuto’s top-10 finish paced Aspen (454) to a fourth-place finish while Resurrection Christian — which returned two of its top-three from last year’s runner-up finish — finished two strokes back in fifth.

Brooks became the second Lion to win a state title after Westin Pals captured the crown in 2019. The future Butler Bulldog built a three-shot lead with his 6-under first-round and extended it on day two with three birdies on his first four holes. His only hiccup on the front nine was a three-putt on the par-4 ninth hole. He got up and down for birdie on 12 and made an electric chip-in eagle on 14 to bring the momentum back.

“It had to be God’s doing, because it wasn’t mine,” he said of the latter hole.

After pulling his tee shot left of the bunker on the 287-yard par-4, he hit a soft, high flop shot that landed right on the front of the green.

“It rolled down the hill and about halfway hit a rock,” Brooks said. “And then it kept going and I was like, ‘this might go in.’”

Even though he had two bogeys in his final four holes, Brooks had plenty of breathing room. Eaton’s Dayne Schmidke finished one shot back from Brayman for third as Timnath sophomore Greysen Kilburn placed fourth. Jackson Beldy, who sat in second after the first day, was placed fifth.

Coming off last year’s ninth-place result, Brooks said the main thing he’s improved upon this season has been consistency under pressure.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to put myself in situations like these enough this year to know how to handle the nerves and the pressure,” he said. “And it helped a lot today.”