LONGMONT — Grand Junction’s Hunter Simmons was as exhausted as he was joyous after sinking his state-title clinching birdie putt at Fox Hill Golf Club on Tuesday.
The senior rallied to take the individual lead with just a few holes remaining at the Class 4A golf state tournament, holding off Mead’s Stryker Leick and Northridge’s Everett Lewis to claim the individual win.
But he earned his title … sweating it out until the very end.
Simmons smiled and sighed moments afterward, recalling when he first heard he’d taken sole possession of the first place.
“I was on (No.) 16 but I was behind a tree and had to punch out, so it was a lot of pressure,” he said. “But luckily I threw a wedge close and hit the (par) putt.”
Simmons’ individual win (with a two-day score of 1-under-par 139) proved closer than the team race — but it was far from less expected.
Mead rallied from five shots back of the lead on the second day to win the team title by 10 strokes.
In nine years as a program, Mead had never qualified a team for the boys’ state golf tournament, let alone competed for a team title. But this fall, it got three golfers to the 4A tournament, then stayed in reach of the lead after its first day on Monday.
Stryker Leick (141, second), Booth Hayes (148, ninth) and Howie Thompson (151, 17th) combined for a Day 2 score of 5-over to lead the Mavericks to victory (20-over 440).
“We knew Stryker and Booth had played well for us (coming into this season),” Mead coach Mike Ward said of his two trusted returning state qualifiers. “And we knew if we just added that third, we could make a run.”
Thompson proved to be the missing piece. He first came out for golf last fall because he was still recovering from an ACL injury and couldn’t play football.
“I went out and made the team (last year) — barely,” he chuckled. “But I kept working and I missed (making state) by like two strokes. But here we are now, and we just won a state championship.”
Broomfield settled for second (450). And though the Eagles were a tad disappointed they’d let a Day 1 lead slip away, they are reassured by the prospects of a bright future.
This fall, not only had they had their best-ever state finish, it was led by two freshmen — Max Music (150) and Rev Bonniwell (151).
“This year was more focused,” said Broomfield coach Tony Ferraro, whose team (including seniors Ian Carlin, 152, and Jackson Fleckenstein, 156) came into the tournament as the 4A No. 1 team per Iwanamaker.com’s new postseason rankings. “We still had a lot of fun, but we knew what we could do. We saw the potential of this team, and so I think everybody just wanted to work at it, and the results showed.”
