Freshmen are not supposed to have this type of composure.
Locked in the longest playoff duel for an individual golf title in state history, Greeley Central’s Nick Umholtz shrugged off the pressure and enjoyed every minute of his six-hole battle with Aspen’s Teddy Karlinski.
After chasing each other with nearly every shot, Umholtz tapped in a par putt and watched as Karlinski’s try from 5 feet lipped out to make Umholtz the Class 4A state golf champion Tuesday at the Wellshire Golf Course.
“I was just having fun. We didn’t make a big deal out of it,” said Umholtz, whose Greeley Central team won its first team title in school history.
Greeley Central (Umholtz, Grant Suggs, Brandon Tomasovich, Taylor Ramaekers) was ranked No. 2 in the state in The Denver Post/9News preseason poll. Kent Denver finished nine strokes back for second place. Colorado Academy was third.
Adam Joiner of Roaring Fork, a three-stroke leader after the first round, had a triple bogey on No. 4 and never recovered. He tied for fourth place with Brandon Hystad of Colorado Springs Christian.
Umholtz, Karlinski and Steamboat Springs’ Paul Berry were tied at 2-over-par going into the 18th hole, and all made par. On the first playoff hole, Berry sent a wild drive out of bounds and finished in third place.
“I played pretty squarely. It’s too bad because I had a chance,” said Berry, a junior.
Karlinksi and Umholtz then missed eagle putts on the first playoff hole and settled for birdies. They bogeyed the second hole and parred the third and fourth.
Karlinski lined up four times in a row with would-be winning putts – starting on No. 18 before the playoff – but just missed on each.
“I knew if I made them, that could be it. I just needed to make one of them,” said Karlinski, a senior still deciding on a college.
On the fifth playoff hole, a straight, 419-yard par 4, Umholtz sank the toughest putt of his day. After both players went wide right off the tee and then punched out of the trees just short of the green, Umholtz short-armed his chip from the rough to leave a 15-foot putt.
He dropped his club, knowing he opened the door for Karlin- ski, who stroked his chip to within 4 feet of the cup.
“On (No. 5) I was like, ‘I don’t want to follow you anymore.’ It worked out nice, though,” Umholtz said.
With Karlinski in position for the win, Umholtz set up for a slightly uphill putt and put just enough muscle on it to stay alive. It seemed that the ball hovered at the edge of the cup for a beat or two before dropping in with Umholtz’s encouraging shout of “Go!”
Finally, on the sixth hole, a winner was crowned. Some spectators argued that Umholtz and Karlinski should be named co-champions.
“That was sweet. I’ve never been in a playoff before. Now I’m going to have to back it up for next year,” said Umholtz, who first picked up a club just four years ago.
…
Results
At Wellshire Golf Course
Par 70-70-140
Team scores – Greeley Central 219-215-434, Kent Denver 224-219-443, Colorado Academy 229-219-448, Pueblo West 221-228-449, C.S. Christian 227-222-449, Cheyenne Mountain 228-222-450, Yuma 228-227-455, Pueblo Centennial 230-233-463, Pueblo South 238-227-465, Northridge 238-230-468, Basalt 239-230-469, Steamboat Springs 239-233-472, Golden 235-238-473.
INDIVIDUALS
Nick Umholtz, Greeley Central, 71-71-142 (won on sixth playoff hole); Teddy Karlinski, Aspen, 71-71-142; Paul Berry, Steamboat Springs, 70-72-142; Adam Joiner, Roaring Fork, 67-78-145; Brandon Hystad, C.S. Christian, 74-71-145; Kaleb Mahanes, Peak to Peak, 73-73-146; Mark Hubbard, Colorado Academy, 75-71-146; Matt Schovee, Kent Denver, 74-72-146; Garrett Smith, Cheyenne Mountain, 75-72-147; Brandon Tomasovich, Greeley Central, 75-72-147; Tyson Colarelli, Pueblo South, 74-73-147; Zach Zaremba, Pueblo West, 74-73-147; Will Logsdon, Evergreen, 75-73-148; Willie Kresock, Colorado Academy, 75-73-148; Taylor Ramaekers, Greeley Central, 73-75-148; Brett Giglio, Pueblo County, 75-74-149; Matt Riggs, Kent Denver, 77-72-149; Jeremy Trujillo, Pueblo Centennial, 72-77-149; Kris Huitt, Rangely, 75-75-150; Drew Gagliardi, Trinidad, 77-73-150; Jim Knous, Basalt, 77-73-150; Grant Suggs, Greeley Central, 78-72-150; Dane Rice, Pueblo West, 72-78-150; Dave Schroeder, Cheyenne Mountain, 77-74-151; Tim Freeman, C.S. Christian, 76-75-151; Beau Schoolcraft, Kent Denver, 76-76-152; Branson Real, Yuma, 74-77-151; Justin Spray, Cheyenne Mountain, 76-76-152; A.J. Wilson, Pueblo West, 75-77-152; Kendall Murphy, Yuma, 77-75-152; Brian Loyd, Yuma, 77-75-152; Chris Lorenzini, Pine Creek, 76-77-153; Brady Garr, Ralston Valley, 78-75-153; Jacob Erisman, Mullen, 80-73-153; Connor Rakowski, Basalt, 79-74-153; Rex Ingham, Cheyenne Mountain, 77-76-153;
Chris Delorey, C.S. Christian, 77-76-153; Austin Hickert, Sterling, 78-76-154; Taylor Faust, Colorado Academy, 79-75-154; Gunner Wiebe, Kent Denver, 74-80-154; Craig Corban, Northridge, 79-75-154; Will Myer, Bishop Machebeuf, 75-80-155; James Nagl, St. Mary’s, 78-77-155; Bryan Hickenberg, Skyview, 75-80-155; Luke Valerius, Golden, 77-78-155; Sam Drake, Rock Canyon, 77-79-156; Chad Novak, Pueblo Centennial, 78-78-156; Eric Farmer, Delta, 78-79-157; Brent Bierma, Montrose, 74-83-157; Eugene Williams, Mullen, 82-75-157; Zac McColley, Colorado Academy, 79-78-157; Kyle Haas, Northridge, 78-79-157; Jon Atencio, Alamosa, 82-76-158; Kyle Seery, Golden, 77-81-158; Chris Gertzell, Pueblo Centennial, 80-78-158; Marc Bensik, Pueblo South, 83-75-158; Zane Covey, Pueblo West, 80-78-158; Taylor Stamp, Colorado Springs School, 80-79-159; Jacob Dalbey, Gunnison, 79-80-159; Stuart Thompson, Fossil Ridge, 81-78-159; Brett Herring, Northridge, 81-78-159; William Bender, Lake County, 81-79-160; Zach Bressler, Golden 81-79-160; Evan Suazo, Pueblo South, 81-79-160; Jon Bailon, Ralston Valley, 81-80-161; Jordan Janz, Denver Christian, 84-79-163; Marcus Montera, Trinidad, 85-79-164; Mark Roush, Pueblo Centennial, 85-79-164; Cody Fritz, Steamboat Springs, 85-79-164; Nick Johnson, Basalt, 83-83-166; Derek Fisher, St. Mary’s, 87-80-167; Zach Games, Pine Creek, 83-84-167; Alex Zuspann, Thomas Jefferson, 89-78-167; Michael Weston, Steamboat Springs, 84-83-167; Zach Kinnison, Northridge, 92-77-169; Tucker
Campbell, Steamboat Springs, 87-82-169; Shane Meihaus, Pueblo South, 83-87-170; Mike Turner, Fort Morgan, 89-82-171; Chad Rayl, Yuma, 89-82-171; Kevin Hurley, Salida, 86-86-172; Ralph Fisher, Greeley West, 90-84-174; Bryan Mason, Basalt, 86-88-174; Jim Sherman, Niwot, 77-WD; Matt Linville, Golden, 81-DQ.
