Meyering battles back to win 4A girls golf title as her Mustangs also take team gold

MONTROSE – While the Ponderosa Mustangs girls golf team pulled away from the field like Nic Cage behind the wheel of a Shelby GT500, Kaylee Mayering just needed to make a steady drive and stay on the road.

A triple-bogey on 15 wasn’t the best way to start, but she survived the tough finishing stretch at The Bridges, shooting a 7-over-par 78 to pull even with Air Academy sophomore, and defending state champion, Landry Frost. While Meyering made par on both 17 and 18, Frost struggled to close out a second consecutive title. She doubled 17 and made bogey on 18, which prompted Meyering and Frost to head back to the 18th tee for a one-hole playoff.

With the Class 4A girls golf team championship already locked up, Meyering just made a good swing to get the ball in the fairway, then missed the green long and right. But most importantly, it was safe.

Frost pushed her tee shot right and her second shot found the water.

Meyering eventually made bogey to give the Mustangs a sweep of the individual and team state championships.

“I would say [focusing on the next shot] plays a role when you have to make sure that you know you’re still in it,” Meyering said. I had a hard hole on 15, but shook it off and just played my game the best I could.”

And her teammates did the same.

Older sister Olivia jumped two spots on the leaderboard by shooting even-par through eight holes to start her day. No. 9 tripped her up a bit and she made a double-bogey, but by that time, the Mustangs had built an 18-shot lead for the team title. Olivia shot 76 on Tuesday, 11 strokes better from her first round.

By the time Olivia had finished, there was no drama in the team race and the only stress she had was watching Kaylee battle with Frost, the only player who finished ahead of her in their freshman year in 2025.

“I was very nervous for her, but I knew she had it,” Olivia said. “It’s amazing that it’s my last year and I got to see my sister win, and that brings me to tears. It’s so emotional and I’m really proud of these girls.”

This is the first girls golf championship in school history, to go with the first individual title in program history, and the girls were well aware of the history they were making for their school

“I could not be more proud of these girls,” coach Matt Smith said. “This is the best team I’ve ever coached in my life. In any sport.”

Madeline Deroeck was 23 shots better than Day 1, shooting a personal best 83 on Tuesday.

Rachel Yanofsky capped off the team effort with an 86, finishing the tournament at 43-over.

This will setup a fun race to the team title next year as Olivia Meyering is the only senior for Ponderosa.

Riverdale Ridge finished as the team runner-up after winning state last year. Karina Panyavong and Brynn Balliet depart as seniors with Leah Johnson and Rylynn Fuss coming back as juniors next year.

The Air Academy team of Frost, Lila Hickey, Hadley Fox and Katelyn Markley are all sophomores.

The 4A girls golf landscape should make for fun drama over the next few years.