PUEBLO – Brad Garrett isn’t going to take much credit for what happened the last two years at Evergreen, but he should.

After the Cougars previous coach stepped down, Garrett – a member at nearby Hiwan – knew that those boys needed a “golf guy”.

“I didn’t want somebody that didn’t know the game,” he said. “But I sure can’t take any credit for any of this, it was all them.”

One year after rolling to the Class 4A state title, the Cougars went back-to-back, this time winning the 3A state title going away at Walking Stick Golf Course. The foursome of medalist Tyler Long, Liam Houlihan, Luke Sabina and Lincoln MacKay shot a two day total of 14-under par 420 to win by 17 shots of defending 3A champion Resurrection Christian.

“These guys have been playing together since they were 10 or 11 years old. They are great friends, they have great chemistry and these guys earned it,” Garrett said. “They put in the time and to see them come out and put those numbers down is super impressive.”

Said Long, who followed up his bogey free 67 on Day 1 with another bogey free 68 to win by four shots over Basalt’s Griffin Didier: “It feel pretty good and it is nice to win when you are expected to win. It shows that you can handle the pressure and the expectations.”

Long had redemption on his mind all throughout the season. A year after missing a putt on the final hole that would have gotten him into a championship playoff, he let that memory sit back in the craw of his mind and used it as motivation throughout his dominant season that culminated with two flawless rounds of golf.

Paired with Basalt’s Griffin Didier and Peak to Peak’s Jack Brayman, Long had a pretty good idea all day long about where he stood. And even though he said he wasn’t worried about what the other guys were doing, he did sort of treat as match play at times when Didier snuck to within three shots of the lead making the turn.

“I knew that if I played even okay that I would still win by a decent amount, I wasn’t to worried,” said Long, who played the par-5’s in 5-under par over the two rounds. “I always try to stay as patient as I can, but the short game was nice, it saved a few bad swings.”

The University of Colorado bound Long never blinked.

“Last year I kind of fell apart at the end,” he said. “I wanted some revenge this year, so this feels extra good.”

Didier, a sophomore – who will get to play next year’s state tournament near home in Aspen – shot a 2-under par 70 to finish four shots back of Long and one shot ahead of Brayman, who shot a 3-under par 69.

All four Evergreen seniors shot under par on Monday and each of them finished in the top seven of the tournament.

(Jon Yunt)