Whether it is competing on the toughest courses in the area or against the top large schools in the state, the Berthoud boys golf team does not back down from a challenge.
Instead, the Spartans embrace them.
Playing host to the Walt Clark Invitational at the Olde Course in Loveland on Wednesday, Berthoud continued his strong season by finishing fourth as a team and as the highest Class 3A finisher in the field of 24 teams.
The Spartans have been competing against — and beating — teams from the 5A and 4A classifications all season, so Wednesday’s result wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
“The Berthoud golf program has really produced some quality athletes this year,” Berthoud head coach David Hunn said. “The scoring is good. We have had several rounds in the 70s. I am getting a lot of kids a lot of playing time that usually wouldn’t have gotten the playing time in other programs simply because I have a lot of events for them. We’ve been having a great time.”
Hunn brought his top four to the event Wednesday and they combined to shoot a 240, 18 strokes behind tournament winner Monarch (222). Columbine was second (235) and Fossil Ridge third (239).
Berthoud’s top four finished within four strokes of each other with the top golfer shooting a 79 and the fourth finishing with an 83.
“We enjoy competing no matter where we are going,” Hunn said. “Whether it is Brush or Sterling or RainDance, which was a blessing to play a couple of weeks ago, Rez’s home course. These kids are continuing to mature. Their physical game is there. It’s the mental approach and course management that me and my coaching staff see getting better. Simply because they are thinking better. It’s not necessarily because they are swinging any better. We definitely work on our short game more than most teams, I would assume, but it’s a quality of how to think around the golf course.”
Junior Coyle Haggerty led the Spartans on Wednesday with a 79. Senior Christian Foxworth shot an 80, junior David Sarmiento an 81 and sophomore Graham McNair an 83.
While Hunn is pleased with the foursome and believes they can go toe-to-toe with the best in the state, he said he has been especially impressed with the play of the sophomore McNair.
“I think the season started a little rocky, but as far as right now, I think we are in a good spot,” McNair said. “A lot of the scores we have been posting have been pretty good. We are hoping to keep doing what we are doing and take those scores to regionals.”
As the season winds down — the Spartans have only three scheduled events left before the league tournament on Sept. 14 in Greeley — Hunn is pleased with where his team is at with the league and state tournaments on the horizon.
Even though he likes to see how his team stacks up against larger schools, he knows what matters is how his team plays each course with a one-stroke-at-a-time approach.
“We like to take our game to wherever we can, whether it is a 3A event, a 4A event or a 5A event,” Hunn said. “Number one, we are playing it one shot at a time and we are playing the golf course. But it is always fun to see where our game stacks up against 5A schools and 4A schools because even though we are a 3A school, that’s not what we look at. We look at, we’re a golf program that is housed in a 3A school and we want to compete against the big boys.”
Three other area schools competed in the tournament. Resurrection Christian, playing without its top golfers, finished 12th. The team of sophomore Graham Riggs (81), freshman Asher Nguyen (82), senior Charlie Riggs (99) and senior Sam Livingstone (101) shot a 262 and was just four strokes out of 10th.
Thompson Valley finished 14th. The team of junior Jackson Lund (85), senior Zach McVay (88), junior Mason Ramirez (96), and senior Parker Muehlbauer (101) shot a 269.
Loveland finished 18th led by junior Erik Bjorklund’s 91. Sophomore Cavan Buchholtz shot a 98, sophomore Ryan Ward a 98 and sophomore Will Dunbar a 92 for a team score of 287.
Berthoud had a second team competing that finished 24th. Senior Masen Johnson (97), freshman Ezra Keller (98), sophomore Patrick Lehan (100), senior Jordan Hanes (115) and senior Ian Hopkins (124) shot a 310.
With so many golfers competing, Hunn is excited to see how the regular season turns out and the team fares at the league and — hopefully — state events.
“I am very pleased with the performances I’ve seen,” he said. “Christian had a round of 2-under through nine holes the other day and it just shows a glimpse of what he can do. He can shoot in the 60s, I have no question about it. Our expectations for him are probably shooting in the high 60s and low 70s because we can see it in him. We know that he, along with David and Coyle and Graham, those guys can continue to get better, and they have. Their bad rounds now are rounds that they were OK with at the beginning of the year. As long as they still have that fire in their belly to compete and get better, that is all I can ask for as a coach.”