Walking down the 18th fairway, Doherty’s Chadd Vasquez lifted his head and realized that he’d put himself in good position to draw even with Coronado’s Isaac Petersilie.

“He’s killed me in the past,” Vasquez said. “I’m always trying to close the gap with him.”

The Spartans senior placed his second shot within feet of the pin and then tapped in for birdie to tie Petersilie’s round score of 2-under-par 69. But Vasquez came up short in a one-hole playoff when the Cougars senior finished with a birdie of his own to win the Spartan Invitational on a squally morning of hazy sunshine at the Colorado Springs Country Club on Monday.

“He (Petersilie) is a very consistent player and doesn’t really let anything get him down or up,” Coronado coach Marty Cornell said. “You never know how he is playing when you look at him. He has a focus that is rare at his age.”

Coronado’s second and third guys weren’t far back of Petersilie on Monday. Wes Moran shot 71 and tied Mesa Ridge’s Braden Bentley for third. Austin Burgess took fifth with a 73, and the Cougars – the defending Class 5A state champions – won by 13 strokes over second-place Doherty with a score of 213 at the 16-team invite.

“It was exactly the kind of start we wanted. When they play their own game, they play well,” Cornell said.

After faltering and three-putting twice on the first nine holes, the Spartans senior rallied with four birdies on the back-nine to catch Petersilie on 18.

Vasquez said a conversation with coach Cheri Rogers was a big reason for his rejuvenated play.

“She picked me up and told me I was just fine,” Vasquez said. “I was down on myself, but she wouldn’t let me do that.”

Petersilie had the last surge. After he had penciled in all three of his birdies on par-5 holes, the Cougars senior tallied another in the playoff when he sank a three-foot putt on the par-5 first hole.

“I thought I played alright,” said Petersilie, who won 4A state as a sophomore and took second at 5A state as a junior. “I hit the ball straight. And I thought I putted well, even though nothing was falling today.”

Vasquez and Petersilie, who played together throughout the summer, will meet again at the Palmer Terror Invitational at Patty Jewett on Wednesday.

“I know the competition is with Isaac and Coronado,” Vasquez said. “It’s going to be a fun season.”