If the past week’s regional competition is any indication of how the state girls golf tournaments are going to go next week, spectators are surely in for a treat. Some of the lowest scores of the year were posted at each of the 10 regionals across three classifications (two more were to be played Wednesday), with five medalists and six players overall shooting under par.

Erie phenom Logan Hale almost matched the state’s lowest round of the season, mastering Foothills’ 18 holes to the tune of a 6-under-par 66. Her teammate, Hadley Ashton, got back into prep action without missing a beat, firing a 68. And defending champs Brenna Higgins (Valor Christian) and Maddy Bante (St. Mary’s Academy) seem to be in the right frame of mind – and body – after claiming regional titles, too.

A full breakdown of each regional can be found below (Note: Class 5A’s Central Region and Class 4A’s Region 3 were to be played Wednesday):

Class 5A

Northern: One of the more well-rounded regionals this season, Coyote Creek witnessed nine players shoot 80 or better as Fossil Ridge and Cherry Creek took the team qualification spots. The Sabercats’ Abbi Beld, a junior, edged a pair of Legend players (Adyson Ice and Maddie Makino) with her 74 for medalist honors. Kate Cowser led the Bruins with a 77, and Castle View’s Shelby McCord fired a 78.

Southern: While Fairview’s Ava Hickey, Mountain Vista’s Shae Maiorana and Regis Jesuit’s Audrey Whitmore battled it out for second place at matching 78s, Ralston Valley’s Addison Hines won the regional tourney by seven strokes. Mountain Vista won the regional, while Pine Creek sophomore Annette Parker also had a top-five finish with her 82.

Western: Valor Christian’s foursome of Brenna Higgins, Ella Scott, Bella Eide and Aja Blankenship went 1-2-3-5 and shot 71, 74, 79 and 81, respectively, to run away with the regional title. Breaking up that run was Chaparral’s Brooke Hudson, who shot 81.

Class 4A

Region 1: Lutheran’s Chace Atkinson flew under the radar all season but put it all together at Walking Stick to card even-par 72 and win the regional over Pueblo Central’s Sofia Contreras, despite Contreras having the home-course advantage. Atkinson played the final two holes at 1-over after the pair were tied through 16. Lutheran’s Tess Morris helped the Lions win the regional, as well, posting a 76.

Region 2: Northfield had three players finish in the top 10 at Broadlands, winning the region by 25 strokes over Cheyenne Mountain. It was a diverse top-10 otherwise, as representatives from seven other schools were in that mix. Littleton’s Zoe Bar-Or earned medalist with a 73, while the Nighthawks’ Makaela Swanson (75, second place) continues to play very well.

Region 4: Erie simply leveled up when it mattered most, winning Region 4 by 34 strokes (217) over Mullen and Steamboat Springs (251). Durango was right there (252) as well, and all four teams will be heavily represented at state. Not to be overlooked, Vista PEAK’s Sophia Capua shot a solid even-par 72 to finish third behind Logan Hale and Hadley Ashton.

Class 3A

Region 1: Three of the classification’s top golfers showed out at Hollydot, with Maddy Bante emerging on top at 68 to edge Manitou Springs’ Addie Dorsey (71) and Salida’s Kyndra Johnson (74). Bante and Dorsey each had an eagle as part of their round. Rye’s Emma Garcia (79) rounded out the top four players, while the Wildcats won the team title.

Region 2: Prospect Ridge’s Hope Torres can call herself a regional champ, no matter how she got there. The junior shot 7-over 79 at Lone Tree, making birdie on the final hole to bounce back from a tough mid-round stretch. That said, the course played hard overall as she was the only player in the 70s. PRA and Denver Christian (led by freshman Sarah Farmer and her 87) took the automatic state qualifying spots.

Region 3: A three-way tie at 83 caused the tournament medalist honor to be fought for via a playoff, and Timnath freshman CheyAnne Schrick was the one who won out, beating Berthoud’s Brooklyn Tychsen and Sterling’s Macie Doherty. Scores were on the higher side at Sky Ranch, but Loveland-area schools Berthoud and Resurrection Christian won the team state berths rather handily.

Region 4: Aspen won at Cattails by a healthy 13 strokes over Montezuma Cortez, with Lenna Perrson (Aspen) the only player shooting in the 70s. However, Peak to Peak’s entire foursome qualified for state, too.

Hunting for the Mega Bonus

(No Laying Up)

(Editor’s Note: The No Laying Up series Strapped features the journey of Big Randy and Neil Schuster playing three rounds of golf on a budget. The deal is that if either of them shoots a round under par, they win the Mega Bonus, which doubles their budget for the full trip. An avid No Laying Up fan, Colorado Preps editor-in-chief Dan Mohrmann likes to track high school players going for the Mega Bonus. They will be featured weekly in Adam’s golf recap.)

Perrson made birdie on four of her first seven holes and rode that hot start to a 1-under 71, even finishing on a high note with a birdie on 18. She won the tournament by 11 strokes.

Hale made four birdies on either side of the turn, going 33-33 to win yet another regional. She birdied four of her first five holes.

Ashton had two stretches of three consecutive birdies on her way to her 68, going 33-35 for her round.

Higgins has had better rounds this season, but she put together enough birdies (seven of them) to counter the tougher shots she hit, eventually making birdie on 18 to finish under par.

Hines had way more good holes than bad, making four birdies to help counter a double-bogey on her sixth hole of play and finish with a 1-under 71. She had birdied three of her first four holes.

Bante surely gained a ton of confidence by making a 2 on her second hole, a shorter par-4 that followed up an opening birdie for the senior Wildcat. In all, she had four birdies and the eagle to finish 3-under.

Class 5A

Central: Team – Rock Canyon, Douglas County; Individual medalist — Ashleigh Wilson, Rock Canyon (71)
Northern: Team – Fossil Ridge, Cherry Creek; Individual medalist — Abbi Beld, Fossil Ridge (74)
Southern: Team – Mountain Vista, Ralston Valley; Individual medalist — Addison Hines, Ralston Valley (71)
Western: Team – Valor Christian, Chaparral; Individual medalist — Brenna Higgins, Valor Christian (71)

Class 4A

Region 1: Team – Lutheran, Pueblo West; Individual medalist — Chace Atkinson, Lutheran (72)
Region 2: Team – Northfield, Cheyenne Mountain; Individual medalist — Zoe Bar-Or, Littleton (73)
Region 3: Team – Holy Family, Riverdale Ridge; Individual Medalist — Macy Kleve, Windsor (73)
Region 4: Team – Erie, Mullen; Individual medalist — Logan Hale, Erie (66)

Class 3A

Region 1: Team – St. Mary’s Academy, Colorado Academy; Individual medalist — Maddy Bante, St. Mary’s Academy (68)
Region 2: Team – Prospect Ridge, Denver Christian; Individual medalist — Hope Torres, Prospect Ridge (79)
Region 3: Team – Berthoud, Resurrection Christian; Individual medalist — CheyAnne Schrick, Timnath (83)
Region 4: Team – Aspen, Montezuma Cortez; Individual medalist — Lenna Perrson, Aspen (71)