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High school golfers to kick off 2013 season

Dale Strode
The Aspen Times

High school sports officially launch this week with the opening of the boys prep golf season.

The Aspen High School boys golf team will open tournament play Thursday at Battlement Mesa.

The Skiers will play four tournaments the following week, before school starts.



“We have our first three positions (set) with the fourth and fifth spots still up for grabs,” Aspen High School golf coach Mary Woulfe said. “Clayton Crawford was in contention at state when he had a bad 17th hole the first day.”

She said Crawford is back to lead the Skiers this season.




“We’re really hopeful he’ll have a great season,” Woulfe said of the AHS senior, who also is an all-state basketball player for the Skiers.

Woulfe said Will Hazen and Patrick Martin have varsity positions solidified for the Aspen boys this year.

“Will is a sophomore,” Woulfe said “He hits very long for a kid his size.”

She said the 5-4 Hazen pounds his drives 240 yards.

“He also has a great up-and-down game,” Woulfe said.

“Will is getting big enough and strong enough to reach the par-5s now,” she said. Hazen recently finished second in the Colorado Junior Golf tournament at Gypsum Creek, where the high school regionals will be played later this fall.

She said Martin and Hazen have played a lot of tournament golf over the summer.

“He and Will have been playing a lot together,” she said. They recently played as partners in a two-player tournament.

“Patrick has been working really hard on his swing and his game,” Woulfe said. “His focus is getting better. He’s more comfortable in his own skin these days.”

Martin was an all-conference pitcher for the Skiers in the spring.

“He’s learning to manage his game,” she said, crediting Hazen’s help on course management.

Hazen also is a basketball player at Aspen High School.

Woulfe said the final two varsity positions for the opening tournament will be decided today.

A combination of tournament play, skills tests and a rules test will determine the No. 4 and No. 5 golfers in Aspen’s lineup.

Next week, the Skiers will play at Lakota Canyon, near New Castle, on Tuesday. They will play at Eagle-Vail on Aug. 13.

The Skiers will tee off at Gypsum Creek on Aug. 14.

They will close next week with a tournament at Rifle Creek.

dstrode@aspentimes.com