Just 48 hours remain in the boys golf season.

Two days for golfers to jockey for individual and team crowns and, for Cheyenne Mountain, a shot at a repeat.

The state boys golf tournament begins Monday and wraps Tuesday in various locations with Cheyenne Mountain sending four players to Fox Hill Club in Longmont for the 4A tournament.

The Pikes Peak region has qualifiers in 4A-2A and last year’s team champion, the Red-Tailed Hawks, will aim for back-to-back titles and their fourth in school history.  

“We turned over the roster and have relatively new kids,” Red-Tailed Hawks coach John Carricato said. “It became very competitive within the team, but the coaches knew whoever the four were that we’ve prepared them as best as we can and that they’re ready to compete at the state tournament.”

Albeit a different setup from the state venue, Cheyenne Mountain golfed in Longmont on Sept. 17 and placed second four strokes behind first-place Grand Junction. Last year’s 4A individual champion Brayden Destefano finished in a three-way tie for first with Longmont’s Wyatt Bogue and Grand Junction’s Hunter Simmons, who all carded a 1-under-par 69.

Destefano, who shot a 1-under-par 70 in Grand Junction last year at state for a two-round score of 138 at Tiara Rado Golf Course, has flourished this year. The Red-Tailed Hawks’ junior ended the regular season Sept. 30 in Fort Collins at the Fossil Ridge State Prep Invite at Collindale Golf Course with a sizzling 7-under-par 64 to finish first and help Cheyenne Mountain finish tied for first with Ralston Valley at 213.

Of course, the goal is to win tournaments and to compete for titles, but Carricato noted the importance of the process. Sound decisions, course management and overcoming obstacles are the focus for the Red-Tailed Hawks’ players. Carricato said Destefano has managed the aforementioned well throughout his career.

“The good thing about Brayden is he has so much tournament experience that I’m not too concerned with him getting ahead of himself on Monday and Tuesday,” Carricato said. “I’m comfortable with him and where he is. … He’s put himself in a position to continue to play good golf for the next week.

“For the rest of our kids, all four of them have passed the eye test. We know they can golf their ball. It’s now about making sure they stay composed and put themselves in good positions to score. We’re going to focus on that for the next week.”

In the 3A tournament, Hayden Dorsey will have a similar focus.

Manitou Springs’ sole representative finished the regular season ranked eighth out of 84 qualifiers and ended the year with a fourth-place finish at the Lewis-Palmer King’s Deer Practice Tournament and carded a 5-over-par 76.

Dorsey placed 10^th last season at state and said “I need some short-game work” along with his approach shots at Eagle Ranch Golf Course in Eagle.

“I need to dial in my 60- to 150-yard approach shots,” Dorsey said. “That’s a big gap but I really want to give myself more opportunities to make some good scores and not penalize myself for hitting poor shots.”

Dorsey said he scoped out the course during a practice round last week and has upcoming time at the venue Sunday. During his walk-through, Dorsey noted that the course will require several different kinds of approach shots.

The Mustangs junior said the review helped, but he’s going for another top-10 finish. Confidence is key and Dorsey said he’s comfortable with the progress he’s made from the start of the season that has led him to state. “I don’t have a specific score in mind, but anything from (placing in the) top 10 or top five would be great,” Dorsey said. “Obviously, the goal would be to win the tournament. What’s the point of being there if you’re not trying to win. But I certainly want to place well and see additional progress to what I’ve made this year. Ending on a good note would be perfect for me to take into next season.”

Growing pains with new golf format

While the Pikes Peak region has competitors in 4A-2A state golf, 5A will not have a representative from any area schools.

Past years have featured competitors from Pine Creek, Fountain-Fort Carson, Rampart, Doherty and more, but the 84-player field in 2025 will host just over 10 players from outside the Denver area.

“There seems to be a lack of global representation throughout the competitive field,” Doherty athletic director Jonathan Shub said. “It’s tough that there’s not much representation south of Denver.”

During the Colorado High School Activities Association’s legislative council meeting in January, members voted to eliminate golf regionals for boys and girls in favor of selecting the top 84 competitors from iWanamaker’s rankings.

The move, Shub said, presents a challenge to some areas, especially outside of Denver.  

“The opportunity and availability of golf courses in Colorado Springs is limited and limits our opportunities to compete in the required amount of tournaments to justify a positive ranking,” Shub said. “The best solution we can have is to have a regional competition that takes into consideration iWanamaker rankings, but is there a way to marry the two? Can we take the top however many golfers to compete at a regional setting and from there, take X amount from each region?”

While Cheyenne Mountain will have four qualifiers competing in next week’s tournament, the Red-Tailed Hawks coaches also have a gripe regarding the new system.

The Red-Tailed Hawks had nine golfers in the top 84 of 4A’s rankings. During an August meeting when asked if, “schools who have more than four players in the top 84 have the option to pick which four players” will represent the school, Michael Book, CHSAA assistant commissioner, said, “as long as they’re in the top 84 qualified players” coaches could select who they wanted in their quartet.

“On two different occasions we were told yes (we could select our four),” Carricato said. “Last week, when our season was pretty much over, I asked CHSAA when the deadline was to submit our lineups and that’s when we were told that it’s your top four based on (iWanamaker). There’s no other high school sport where the organization dictates the lineup. So why is golf the exception?” “I get growing pains are going to happen when something is new. … But they wouldn’t do that to (Cherry Creek football coach) Dave Logan. They wouldn’t tell Dave Logan, ‘Here’s your lineup for the state football championship. So why are they doing that for golf?’”

State boys golf tournament

Monday

4A

At Fox Hill Club in Longmont

9 a.m. tee times from No. 1 and No. 10

3A

At Eagle Ranch Golf Course in Eagle

9:30 a.m. tee times from No. 1 and No. 10

2A

At Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo

8:30 a.m. tee times from No. 1 and No. 10