Basalt boys golf finishes second, Aspen third at Bookcliff tournament in GJ
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The Basalt High School boys golf team gave defending Class 4A state champion Montrose a fight and even took down rival Aspen on Monday in a tournament played at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction.
Montrose shot a collective 227, holding off the Longhorns by three strokes (230). The Skiers finished third with 237, followed by Fruita Monument in fourth (243) and Vail Christian in fifth (248).
“It was a very good, challenging round of golf,” AHS coach Mary Woulfe said. “Basalt took it to us today. We didn’t play particularly well outside of Nic and they had some very good, consistent play.”
Aspen junior Nic Pevny continued his consistent play this season by shooting 1-under 70 to finish in a tie for first with Montrose’s Jordan Jennings. Both players shot 35-35, although based off USGA rules, Jennings was the official winner after scoring better on the final six holes.
Jennings, who was 11th at state last season in 4A, birdied three of his final five holes, including the 18th hole. Pevny’s only birdie down the stretch came on the 14th hole, while both players bogeyed the 17th hole, a par 3.
“Jordan birdied 18 in kind of a dramatic fashion,” Woulfe said. “Nic hit the green and it looked like it was going to be awesome and then it spun back off, which was kind of the story of his day.”
Taking third was Basalt freshman Garrett Exelbert, who finished with a 2-over 73. Vail Christian’s Connor Downey and Fruita’s Josh Stouder each shot 74 to tie for fourth, while BHS senior Tyler Sims tied for sixth with Montrose’s Noah Richmond after each shot 76.
Other notable scores included Basalt’s Kyle Murray shooting 81 to tie for 10th place. Aspen’s Jake Doyle shot 83 to tie for 16th; Aspen’s Cole Kennedy shot 84 to tie for 19th; and both Aspen’s John Hall and Basalt’s Braden Exelbert shot 85 to tie for 23rd place.
Pevny has at least tied for first if not outright won every tournament he’s played in for the Skiers this season. However, he’s officially finished second in both of the ties based off scorecard tiebreakers.
“I played pretty well. On the front nine I was able to make a couple of 20- and 30-footers, so that helped a lot,” Pevny said. “Then on the back, 17 was a long par 3 that I bogeyed, but besides that the back was pretty solid as well.”
The Skiers are scheduled to play again in Grand Junction on Tuesday, this time at Tiara Rado Golf Course, although it’ll be a different group of golfers from the Bookcliff players.
SOFTBALL
The Basalt High School softball team received a couple more votes to effectively move up to No. 11 in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll, released Monday.
The Longhorns were preseason No. 8 in Class 3A, but dropped outside the top 10 in last week’s first update. BHS did not play that first week.
BHS is 3-0 so far this season, with a win over Aspen (29-0) and a sweep of Gunnison (20-4, 8-5). Basalt next hosts Cedaredge on Tuesday afternoon for a pair of games before traveling to Rifle for a Thursday doubleheader.
The Skiers (0-3) are off until hosting Rifle on Saturday.
TENNIS
The Aspen High School boys tennis team is scheduled to host Fruita on Tuesday afternoon at the city courts. The Skiers are off to a strong start after winning the Lowry Bishop tournament in Grand Junction to open the year and then rolling over Vail Christian, 7-0, last week.
Because of COVID-19 precautions, general spectating isn’t allowed at AHS home events this fall.
Late surge not enough as Basalt football season ends vs TCA
The fight was there until the bitter end for the Longhorns, but the hole that was dug was too deep to climb out of.
