Golf: Aspen third, Basalt sixth after first day at state

The Aspen High School boys golf team is sitting solid after the first day of the Class 3A state tournament, played Monday at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora.

The Skiers shot a three-man score of 234 to finish the day 18-over par. They are nine strokes behind Kent Denver and Peak to Peak, which are tied for first after shooting a 9-over 225.

“We are sitting nine back of that, which is three strokes a guy, and we are happy to be there. We are excited to be there,” Aspen coach Mary Woulfe said. “It’s been just a hugely good tournament for us so far. It’s a hard course.”

Aspen sophomore Jack Hughes shot a team-best 76 on Monday, finishing 4-over and tied for ninth place. Sophomore Dawson Holmes and freshman Jack Pevny each shot 79 to end the day tied for 18th, with sophomore Dominic Lanese shooting 81 to tie for 25th.

“It was really a blast to go play at this level on that kind of condition of a course,” Hughes said. “We feel if the Kent Denver and Peak to Peak teams could beat us by nine strokes today, we can beat them by nine tomorrow. So we are just going to go out there and play our best.”

The Basalt High School golf team finished the day in sixth place, shooting 239. Junior Tanner Korn was the surprising leader for the Longhorns, shooting 77 to finish 5-over and tied for 13th.

“He just had one of those rounds where he played great from the get-go,” Basalt coach Kenny Doerrer said, noting that Korn had never broken 80 in competitive play before. “He’s been kind of knocking on the door all year. But he’s always made a triple bogey here or had a blow-up hole there and ended up shooting 84, 85, 86. But he really stuck with his routine and played a really solid round of golf today.”

Basalt sophomore Holden Kleager, the Region 4 champion, was second on the team with an 8-over par 80, finishing tied for 23rd. Senior Linc Kleager shot 82 to tie for 35th, and junior Drew Broadhurst had 94 to tie for 65th.

Only five strokes separate third-place Aspen and sixth-place Basalt heading into today’s round.

“The two top schools — Peak to Peak and Kent Denver — are a little bit out of range. But we are well within range of catching Aspen and a couple of schools in front of us,” Doerrer said. “We have an opportunity to really post a good number tomorrow and shoot up the leaderboard a little bit, and that’s kind of what we are looking for.”

Kent Denver’s Oliver Jack leads the 3A tournament after shooting an even par 72.

The tournament will wrap up today with the second and final round. Players will tee off beginning at 9 a.m., with the leaders set to get underway at 10:57 a.m.

“(Today), we got to go out and better the scores we shot (Monday). I think everybody, man to man, is ready to do that,” Woulfe said. “It was tough on everybody today, at times. The course had pretty straightforward pin placements, but in general if you get into trouble on this course in certain areas, big numbers are possible.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com