Craig — The members of the Moffat County High School boys golf team experienced some significant challenges during their first meet of the season Monday in Grand Junction.

The Tiger Invitational at Bookcliff Country Club was not an easy starter for the squad of five that placed 13th out of 14 teams with a total score of 292.

Coach Justin Folley said the day started off promising.

“Everyone teed off well, and I started to get pretty excited,” he said.

Although the team’s drives were solid, it was another part of the game that was problematic.

Sophomore Mike Bingham said the course’s greens were tricky to play.

“I had about 40 putts the whole day,” he said.

The Bookcliff greens translated to a lot of excessive strokes for MCHS, Folley said.

“They haven’t had a lot of experience with breaks in the greens like those,” he said.

The conditions had an adverse effect on the team right away, though by the back nine, it was easier to adjust, though too late to stay in contention.

Bingham led the team with a score of 90, followed by Matt Hamilton with a 99. The other three Bulldogs in attendance struggled to crack triple digits with scores of 103, 105 and 106 from Chris Kling, Phillip Chadwick and Tyler Davis, respectively.

Having three players who had never played in a high school tourney — Hamilton, Chadwick and Davis — and stiff competition from larger schools — Grand Junction High School’s Trevor Olkowski owned the day with a 69, followed by a four-way tie for second with 71 — was an “eye-opener,” Folley said.

“We had some good growth, and I think they’ve gained more confidence,” he said.

Because of a registration conflict, MCHS no longer will be traveling to Avon on Thursday to compete in a tournament hosted by Battle Mountain High School.

However, they will be in Gypsum on Wednesday for Eagle Valley’s event.

“Gypsum is a longer course, and our guys are big hitters,” Folley said. “I think we’ll do well there, I really do.”

Contact Andy Bockelman at 970-875-1793 or abockelman@CraigDailyPress.com or follow him on Twitter @CDP_Sports.