Craig Daily Press / Golf team finishes 4th in Montrose

Archive for Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Junior Heather Nicholson ties for 3rd with an 86

Callie Papoulas, a sophomore on the Moffat County High School girls golf team, finished a tournament Monday at Cobble Creek in Montrose with a 106 and tied for 16th place. Fellow sophomore Nike Cleverly joined her teammate in the top 20, as did junior Heather Nicholson, who finished in a third-place tie with an 86. Overall, the girls team finished fourth at the event.

By Joshua Roberts

April 14, 2009

The Moffat County High School girls golf team continued its strong play Monday, finishing a tournament in Montrose with another top-5 team finish.

Again, the play of junior and team ace Heather Nicholson paced the Bulldogs.

She shot 86, eight strokes better than the 94 she carded in two tournaments last week, and good for a third-place tie with a golfer from Gunnison.

But, Nicholson wasn't alone in performing well Monday at Cobble Creek Golf Course, a par 72 course that played at about 5,100 yards.

Sophomores Nike Cleverly and Callie Papoulas, and freshman Sam Fox joined Nicholson on the trip.

Papoulas finished with a 106 and tied for 16th. Cleverly netted her first top-20 finish with a 111, and Fox finished with a 119.

The latter was a performance that particularly stuck out to coach Ann Marie Roberts.

"She dropped 30 strokes (from her previous round)," Roberts said. "Now, that's pretty big."

Overall, the Bulldogs finished fourth out of nine teams Monday.

Roberts said bad weather continues to wreak havoc on her team's practice schedule. Inclement weather has kept the team indoors for long stretches, she said.

"We haven't even been outside, really," Roberts said. "We practiced for about an hour outside Friday, but it was freezing. We're looking forward to the next two weeks being outside and really starting to see our scores really drop."

On Monday, the team was able to hit the driving range for about an hour before teeing off. Players were able to make some tweaks, Roberts said, and it showed on their scorecards.

Everyone improved from previous rounds, the coach added.

"Just spending an hour on the range today they dropped that many strokes," Roberts said.

Roberts took her varsity golfers to Cobble Creek for good reason - the course is home to the regional tournament May 4 and 5, the qualifier for state play.

The coach said the regional tournament and an April 27 home meet at Yampa Valley Golf Course, which 10 or 11 teams will be participating in, are the two important dates left on the team's schedule.

On the season, MCHS has competed in three team tournaments and finished fourth overall in each.

Next up for the team is a Monday tournament at Rifle Creek.

Joshua Roberts can be reached at 875-1791, or jroberts@craigdailypress.com.