The short-winded season of the Palisade boys’ golf team is finally coming to an end, with JV Championships and Regionals over and State right around the corner. This past Friday, September 15, was one of the largest tournaments in the Western Slope hosted by our very own Palisade team at their home course, Chipeta.
JV Championships are a huge part of the boys’ golf season, with over 150 players coming together to play 18 holes as a last tournament before they send their varsity players off to regionals. Around 17 teams from across the Western Slope showed up bright and early on this brisk morning to compete in their last tournament of the season. Our Palisade Bulldogs arrived at the golf course at 7:00 a.m. to help set up and prepare for the long day ahead of them. The first tee time started at 8:00 a.m. beginning with the upperclassman flight. Our incredible athletic director Gregg Hawkins showed up to support the team and provide our team with hot and fresh pizza for lunch. The tournament is played in a tee-time start style, compared to the shotgun start which is normally played at tournaments, due to the large quantity of players. The event finally came to an end around 6:00 p.m., with all teams’ scores in and submitted. The top placer for Palisade was sophomore Landon Beville, shooting a 77.
Following closely after the JV Championships were regionals and Bookcliff Country Club on Wednesday, September 20. Our regional team consisted of seniors Ian Allen and Maddox Caster, junior Taylor Cowdrey, and sophomore Jackson Martin. Allen was able to finish in third place overall shooting a 75 on a par 71, qualifying him for the state tournament. “I feel like I played really well at regionals and it was a good culmination of all the skills and abilities I have. Regionals was a good experience for the team, and sets them up for following seasons.” Allen says. The boy’s season is quickly approaching its early end, with only one last tournament for the team as a whole and state. State this year is October 2nd and 3rd and is at The Bridges Golf and Country Club. The final tournament for the team as a whole is the admin round, where the seniors of the team drafted different members of our Palisade Administration as well as the rest of the players to compete in scramble teams. “I feel kind of sad about the season-ending because I really enjoy the team and I really love playing competition golf, but I feel like I finished off my high school career well.” Then with a final bittersweet end-off to the season, the boys will have a banquet to celebrate their successes and receive their letterman’s awards, and wish Allen good luck and send him off to the state competition. Good job this season Bulldogs, will see you at the girl’s season for the next round of golf!
