The only thing better than the first hole of Chris Hyten’s opening round at the Class 5A boys state golf tournament was his last.
Hyten, a junior at Pine Creek, dropped his second shot of the day within a foot of the cup for an eventual birdie. Then, as his nerves started to take over, Hyten wrapped up his first- ever round at state with another birdie to finish atop the leaderboard with an even-par 70 on Monday at Pinehurst Country Club.
“I was pretty much just shaking on the last four holes I was getting so nervous,” Hyten said.
Hyten and Douglas County freshman Cody Kent, another newcomer to the state tournament, completed Day One alongside defending champion Steve Ziegler of Legacy.
The race for the title is crowded for today’s final round as 13 golfers are within five strokes of the leader.
The competition for the team title is even better. Five-time defending champion ThunderRidge is sitting in third place, three strokes behind Cherry Creek and two behind Chaparral.
“We’ll see what happens. We’ll just try to keep the same game plan and not worry about anything else,” Chaparral’s Jack Mathis said.
Ziegler, who is trying to become the eighth two-time boys state champion, said he could not get a consistent rhythm going despite some great shots.
For example, Ziegler lifted a beautiful shot straight toward the pin from about 120 yards out. From his vantage point, the shot appeared to hole out or at least drop close. It did, and it didn’t.
Ziegler’s shot fell within inches of the cup before nearly rolling back in a second time. Instead, the ball kept rolling all the way off the green.
“When I hit that, I thought it would land about pin high. I didn’t expect it to spin off the green,” said Ziegler, who finished with a par on the hole.
Class 5A state golf tournament
DAY 1
Team scores – Cherry Creek 227, Chaparral 229, ThunderRidge 230, Chatfield 231, Loveland 232, Arapahoe 235, Legacy 235, Air Academy 237, D. Ridge 240, Pomona 242, Overland 243, Fruita Monument 254.
Individual results – Chris Hyten, Pine Creek, 34-36 – 70; Steve Ziegler, Legacy, 36-35 – 71; Cody Kent, Douglas Cty, 37-34 – 71; Kevin Chan, Coronado, 33-39 – 72; Jack Mathis, Chaparral, 35-37 – 72; Matt Rubin, C.C., 35-37 – 72; Derek Fribbs, Douglas Co., 34-39 – 73; Mitch Buchner, Loveland, 38-35 – 73; Nick Allen, D. Ridge, 36-38 – 74; Tyler Parsloe, ThunderRidge, 36-38 – 74; Kory Harrell, Air Aca., 35-40 – 75; Cory Boillot, Doherty, 36-39 – 75; Steven Embree, Mountain Vista, 37-38 – 75; Oliver Grabb, Boulder, 37-38 – 75; Casey Coy, Chatfield, 36-40 – 76; Glen Nowell, Fairview, 36-40 – 76; Ben Sculley, Arapahoe, 36-40 – 76; Bryan Kruse, Pomona, 37-39 – 76; David Yergert, Arvada West, 37-39 – 76; Alex Gutesha, C.C., 36-41 – 77; Brandon Schroeder, Horizon, 37-40 – 77; Zahkai Brown, Pomona, 38-39 – 77; Kevin Hamilton, Air Aca., 38-39 – 77; Ross McLean, Boulder, 38-39 – 77; Josh Hardman, ThunderRidge, 39-38 – 77; Robert Quick, Chatfield, 40-37 – 77; Branden Barron, Chaparral, 41-36 – 77; Yong Kim, Overland, 36-42 – 78; Alex Wilkins, C.C., 37-41 – 78; Dalton Becky, Arapahoe, 38-40 – 78; Eric Kinney, Poudre, 38-40 – 78; Lee Krowl, Chatfield, 38-40 – 78; Lanny Cameron, Rocky Mtn., 39-39 – 78; Kyle Tawara, Brighton, 39-39 – 78; Tyler Conwell, Columbine, 40-38 – 78; Greg Davis, Regis, 35-44 – 79; Mike Guerra, Air Aca., 35-44 – 79; Clifton Sebra, Grandview, 38-41 – 79; Sean Woodside, ThunderRidge, 39-40 – 79; Tyler Coates, Durango, 41-38 – 79; Emery McGraw, Loveland, 42-37 – 79;
Russell Einsphar, Arvada West, 39-41 – 80; Evan Lindemann, Air Aca., 40-40 – 80; Blake Mitchell, Loveland, 40-40 – 80; Mike Maroney, Chaparral, 42-38 – 80; Dustin Moser, Legacy, 42-38 – 80; Cody Vance, Dakota Ridge, 42-38 – 80; Chris Smith, Regis, 44-36 – 80; Jonathan Park, Overland, 35-46 – 81; Jeff Platt, C.C., 38-43 – 81; Greg Johnson, Bear Creek, 39-42 – 81; David Holtgrewe, Arapahoe, 40-41 – 81; Tom Snow, Ponderosa, 40-41 – 81; Addison Villanueva, Littleton, 40-41 – 81; Rory Armstrong, Arvada, 37-45 – 82; Matt Stern, Fruita Monument, 38-44 – 82; Steven Moore, Arapahoe, 41-41 – 82; Jeff Popick, Lakewood, 42-40 – 82; Ben Davis, Green Mtn., 43-39 – 82; Richie VanTine, Chaparral, 43-39 – 82; Jackson Lane, Smoky Hill, 39-44 – 83; Ryan Duggan, Fort Collins, 40-43 – 83; Brad Hernandez, Standley Lake, 43-40 – 83; Charlie Lee, Overland, 35-49 – 84; Adam Hasskamp, Pine Creek, 41-43 – 84; Chris Rhine, Legacy, 41-43 – 84; Daniel Chung, Grandview, 42-42 – 84; Jesse Gaass, East, 42-42 – 84; Joe Schmidt, Columbine, 42-42 – 84; Chace Nathe, Fruita Monument, 42-43 – 85; Taylor Scott, Coronado, 42-43 – 85; Brennan Dolan, Fairview, 42-44 – 86; Matt Stratton, Dakota Ridge, 44-42 – 86; Tom Steiner, Green Mtn., 43-44 – 87; Anthony DePalma, Fruita Monument, 46-41 – 87; Kremer Suttman, Mtn. Vista, 46-41 – 87; Matt Barstnar, Highlands Ranch, 47-40 – 87; Keith Brady, Eaglecrest, 42-47 – 89; Kyle Bodor, Pomona, 45-44 – 89;
Alex Dean, Overland, 40-50 – 90; David Lopez, Legacy, 43-48 – 91; Andy McDonnell, Dakota Ridge, 44-47 – 91; Dario Ortega, Loveland, 45-46 – 91; Cody Pakech, JFK, 49-44 – 93.
