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Moffat County golfers tee off early with big season expectations

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Andy Bockelman
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Moffat County golfers gather at the clubhouse at Rifle Creek Golf Course during Rifle Bears Invite on Tuesday. From left, Aron Jennings, Jayden Evenson, Zaylan Kirby, Kolten Vasquez, Cash Beckett.
Andy Bockelman/Craig Press

While the calendar may be starting quite early for the Moffat County School District, getting into the swing of fall sports in the dog days of summer is nothing new for the boys golf program.

MCHS had its first athletic competition of the 2023-24 school year as Bulldog golf hit the links Tuesday at Rifle Creek Golf Course, placing fifth among 11 schools at the Rifle Bears Invitational.

With Steamboat Springs winning the affair, led by a 73 from senior Sailor Michael Dinapoli, MoCo upperclassman Aron Jennings was right in step with a 75 to place second in the field of 67.

Jennings was part of the same foursome as Dinapoli and saw mostly the same amount of success for the day, including a birdie on the second hole. He also took a bogie on the same hole that Dinapoli took a +2 — Hole 17 — which prevented Dinapoli from making par.

“We were going back and forth, and we were both one under for seven or eight holes,” Jennings said. “I wish I’d been able to come and play this one before we came here.”

Jennings said he’s feeling confident for this year’s schedule as part of his senior year. Aside from twice shooting at the state level, he was part of the 2023 Scotland Junior Golf Invitational, an elite program for young American duffers to play at the centuries-old St. Andrews Golf Club.

The only downside of the July event was Jennings’ golf clubs were lost during travel.

“I didn’t play my best, because I had to rent some,” he said. “Those fairways were stupid hard. I had to learn how to control my spin, because you need that in Scotland. We were playing in 30 to 40 mile-an-hour winds. We were right on the ocean.”

Also shooting in Rifle was junior Jayden Evenson, who tied for 37th with an even 100.

Evenson competed alongside Jennings at the regional tourney last season, picking up his personal best of 89 in the process. This season, his goal is to top that mark.

“I want to shoot low 80s this year,” he said. “My drives were pretty good today, but it was a hard course.”

Sophomore Kolten Vasquez is the third of the three returning regional competitors from last fall. Tuesday saw him somewhat frustrated, but hopeful, with a score of 110.

“I need to work on my chipping and approach shots, but I’m pretty happy with my driving,” Vasquez said.

The Bulldogs had two new players at Rifle Creek: freshman Cash Beckett, who shot a 120, and senior Zaylan Kirby, who took a 109 in his first event.

Kirby, who also competes in Bulldog basketball and baseball, said he chose to join up this fall after spending much of this summer at Yampa Valley Golf Course.

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“I hit a little bit two years ago, once or twice, but this year I’ve been really serious about it,” Kirby said. “I had a lot of free time and went out there all the time.”

He noted that his baseball skills have been somewhat counter-intuitive in his swing, though he’s managed to get those mechanics down.

“It’s totally opposite and hard to keep it straight, but I still feel like I can drive pretty far when I get it right,” Kirby said.

Kirby plans to bring his score down into the low 90s by season’s end, though he also isn’t going to put too much pressure on himself.

“I do better when I’m just having fun and staying relaxed,” he said. “If I get mad at myself, I do worse. I just want to keep contributing. It’s a good group of friends here.”

Head coach Tim Adams is seeing one of his greatest turnouts for golf this season. Besides adding Peyton Keel as an assistant coach — a role Adams has only sporadically been able to fill in recent years — he has 13 total players joining the ranks.

Though he can only sign up five at a time for varsity events and will have the same two or three on his roster most tourneys, having a larger pool of athletes never hurts.

“They really have the potential to be a great team this year,” he said. “Everybody has been playing well so far.”

Bulldog golfers will have a busy few weeks as school gets in motion again, with back-to-back tournaments in Aspen and Basalt on Aug. 14-15, as well as an event in Delta on Aug. 17.

Delta course Devil’s Thumb will play host to the 3A Region 4 Tournament on Sept. 18 — a welcome arrangement for Jennings, who shot his personal best of 73 there last year.

His objectives this fall are to keep bringing down his total and bringing up his rankings.

“I think I can shoot right where I was today this season and make it a bit lower,” Jennings said. “I’m hoping to win a couple tournaments, be able to break par, do great at regionals. Getting in the top 10 at state would be really nice.”

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