Panthers win 4A division of three golf tournaments

Panthers win 4A division of three golf tournaments

August 28, 2001

STAFF REPORT

They have won three golf tournaments (among 4A schools present) Aug. 23-25 under new head coach Randy (Jack) Jacobson.

"I am really pleased right now," Jacobson said. "The kids are playing well."

The Panthers visited Pagosa Springs this past Saturday, played at Durango on Friday, and hosted their own Cortez Invitational on Thursday.

Cortez, with a score of 237, came in third overall behind 5A schools Durango (226) and Grand Junction High (232). Delta was next at 244 and Kirtland-Central (Kirtland, N.M.) rounded out the top five teams at 247. A total of 18 teams competed in the 18-hole tourney.

Durango’s Andrew Crowell notched his first win of his high school career. He shot a 3-over-par 74 to lead the field. Teammates Michael Mericle came in second with a 75 and Jake Hermes shot a 77 for sixth. MCHS’s Shea Sena and Grand Junction’s Kyle Sullivan each shot 76 to tie for third. Casey Stone, playing in his first varsity tourney of the season, carded a 79 while Michael Stroud finished with an 82 (top three individual scores counted).

At Durango’s Hillcrest Golf Club, the Panthers had another good day. Cortez finished fourth overall with a team score of 228 behind the Demons’ 222, Vernal, Utah’s 225, and Grand Junction’s 227.

Junction’s Eric Winder won with an even-par 71. Several golfers followed with 72s. Durango’s Ross McDermott, Tim Hawkins of Vernal, and Sena. Crowell fired a 73. Class 4A defending state champ Hermes, one of the better young golfers in Colorado, struggled to a 78.

Keenan Lovett and Stroud shot 82 and 85, respectively, for the Panthers.

At Conquistador Golf Course, Unitah High of Vernal captured the team title with a 222. Central of Grand Junction finished in second with a 231 while Durango came in third at 236 while MCHS had 239 and Fruita-Monument 242.

Individually, Sena won with a 72. Hawkins and teammate Mike Swink both fired 1-over 73s to pace Vernal. Also for MCHS, Lovett fired 75 and Stroud 80. Hermes led the Demons with a 77, with Crowell and carded a 79. Hermes, playing in his first tournament of the season, tied for seventh with Eric Scholl of Steamboat Springs at 77. Delta's Jason Fraser and Moffat County's Evan Pressley finished in a tie for ninth at 78.

"Right now we are still making some mental mistakes. We are letting our emotions take over when we make a bad shot. We have got to just try to take it one stroke at time and forget the bad one and move on," Jacobson said.

The Panthers will continue their golf tour this Thursday, Aug. 30, at Battlement Mesa and then go to Delta on Friday, Aug. 31, before school gets under way next week. They will not play a tournament again until they go to Fairway Pines near Ridgway on Sept. 10.