Longmont – All that was decided Monday after the first day of the Class 5A girls state golf tournament is – nothing has been decided.
Individual and team scores are logjammed at the top, with a four-team race heating up among three-time defending champion Skyline, Fort Collins, Cherry Creek and Monarch. As well, eight golfers are within four strokes of the leader, Littleton freshman Becca Huffer, who shot a 4-over-par 76 at the 5,894-yard Fox Hill Country Club.
After the first round, Huffer went straight to the practice range to work on her short game.
“I had a few chips from the rough that I duffed, so I’m just working with my coach to figure out how to do those,” said Huffer, who won the Metro East Region at Mira Vista Golf Course. “I’m playing pretty well this year. I’m hitting farther than I was last year.”
Heritage’s Alison Cavanaugh, who tied for 19th last year, and Skyline’s Rachel Larson, seventh the past two years, are one stroke behind Huffer. Chelsey Collins of Monarch and Sara Wagner of Cherry Creek finished with 78s, and Wagner was in full command of her emotions.
“I don’t get nervous,” Wagner said.
To prove it, Wagner and her Cherry Creek teammates were headed back to the hotel to take a nap before returning to the course for practice.
“I’m really going to work on my short game. My long game was pretty good, I hit like 13 fairways or something,” she said.
Skyline holds a two-stroke lead over Cherry Creek and three strokes over Fort Collins and Monarch thanks to Larson, Stephanie Jennings (84) and Christa Seitz (90). But a record fourth straight 5A title won’t be handed to them.
“They didn’t have the best day, I think they can play better,” Skyline coach Susan Jennings said. “But they have the lead now, so hopefully they will play better (today). I think they were extremely nervous, and here, if you’re nervous and hit a sideways shot, you will end up in the thick rough or the trees.”
Monarch sisters Chelsey and Brooke Collins had top-six finishes, with Chelsey one stroke ahead of Brooke.
“I got off to a rough start – double (bogey), bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey – but I hung in there,” said Chelsey Collins, who finished with her best score in a high school tournament. “It was a mental grind, for sure.”
Others with a shot at catching Huffer include Chaparral’s Shannon Donegan (79), Fort Collins’ Haley Hartman (80) and Heather Daviner of Ponderosa (80).
