Although the Panthers did not qualify for the Class 4A State High School Golf Championships for next week’s (Oct. 2-3) at the River Valley Ranch Golf Course in Carbondale, Montezuma-Cortez players had a good season.

"I feel good about the season," MCHS head coach Mike Allison commented. "We had a young group and they are coming back. We had a fantastic year and we have a lot to look forward to for next year."

On Sept. 20 they teed off in Gunnison for the Western Regional Golf Tournament. The Western Slope Class 4A golf teams played 18 holes at the Dos Rios Golf Course. The top two teams and the eight lowest-scoring individuals not on those two teams earned the right to compete in at the State Tournament.

The regional tournament featured 20 teams. Rifle captured first place with a score of 233 and Aspen followed at 240. Those two teams qualified for State. Moffat County placed third at 243, Battle Mountain 244, Montrose 244, Basalt 252, Cedaredge 255, Cortez 255, Delta 255, and Glenwood Springs 259 rounding out the top teams.

Medalist, for the second year in a row, was Luke Antonelli of Rifle with a 72. C.J. Pugh of Moffat County finished a distant second with 76. Basalt-Roaring Fork’s Trevor Johnson finished third with a 77. Aspen's Patrick McClennan and Colt Hartrich, and Basalt’s Devon Child all shot 79. The cutoff was 81 for individuals qualifying.

Panther freshman Shea Sena shot an 81. He lost in a playoff with six other golfers for that final spot. Sophomore Keenan Lovett fired an 82, junior Casey Stone and senior Chris Dibsie 92.

"I’m feel bad that we did not shoot as well as we could have," MCHS head coach Mike Allison said. "But I’m disappointed and heartbroken for Shae. And the same for Keenan. Still, in tournament’s like this it shouldn’t come down to a playoff hole. They should have gotten the job done earlier and win them on the course during regular play."

Sena finished with the lowest stroke-average at 79. Lovett had an average of 83.6, Stone 84.6, and Dibsie 89.

Sena was a very consistent player for the Panthers for 11 regular-season tournaments and Regionals. He shot between 78-83 all season. The other solid player for Cortez was Lovett, who actually attends Dolores High School. Lovett, about mid-way through the season, started to play within himself and the scores started falling. Allison said Stone was "like a tumbleweed and was up and down, but he can shoot low scores if he is focused."

Allison said that seniors Tony McComb and Dibsie did an admirable job but they did not play enough during the off-season and showed in their game during the season. He also said that youngsters Alex Stewart and Casey Stroud are up and comers for next year.

A highlight of the season was winning their own Cortez Invitational back on Aug. 29 at Conquistador Golf Course. The day before they placed second at Pagosa Springs. They played well the next day at Dalton Ranch in Durango by finishing fourth. And they finished sixth at Hillcrest, also in Durango.