AURORA | The long wait to play for Centennial League boys golfers came to an end Thursday with a competitive opening league tournament at Meadow Hills G.C.
The majority of the league teams — including Aurora-area entries Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Overland and Smoky Hill — hadn’t played yet in the first week of the regular season of one of the four fall prep sports permitted in the coronavirus pandemic, so things were a bit rough for many at the beginning.
Cherry Creek handled the opener better than the rest of the field as all five players shot 74 or lower on the par-70 course and teamed for a 14-stroke victory over Arapahoe, with Mullen in third place.
Kenny VanWormer carded Aurora’s best result with a 3-over-par 73, which put the Grandview junior (a returning Class 5A state qualifier) in a tie for sixth place individually, five strokes off the pace of medalist Sam Schouten of Cherry Creek. VanWormer got to 2-under through 11 holes before losing four shots on his next three holes.
As a team, the Wolves shoot 313 as a team to finish fourth, with junior Alex Chitkoksoong next with a 77.
Eaglecrest sophomore Andrew White, another returning 5A state qualifier, finished in a tie for 10th with a score of 75 that might have been lower if not for some difficulty on the final three holes. White’s Raptors finished in sixth place in the overall standings.
Tyler Cassaday paced fifth-place Cherokee Trail with a 77, while Talyn Haskell shot 80 for the low score for Smoky Hill, which finished seventh. Noah Larchick had a 92 for Overland, which didn’t have enough players to record a team score.
The second Centennial League tournament is scheduled for Aug. 17 at South Suburban G.C.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE MEET NO. 1
Thursday at Meadow Hills G.C.
Team scores (par 280): 1. Cherry Creek 282; 2. Arapahoe 296; 3. Mullen 304; 4. GRANDVIEW 313; 5. CHEROKEE TRAIL 325; 6. EAGLECREST 359; 7. SMOKY HILL 380; OVERLAND no score
Top 10 individuals (par 70): 1. Sam Schouten (Cherry Creek) 68; 2. Charlie Flaxbeard (Cherry Creek) 69; T3. Grant Juergens (Arapahoe) 71; T3. Rhett Johnson (Mullen) 72; 5. Logan Biggerstaff (Cherry Creek) 72; T6. KENNY VANWORMER (GRANDVIEW) 73; T6. Thomas Hicks (Cherry Creek) 73; T8. Will Kates (Arapahoe) 74; T8. Jonathan Trigg (Cherry Creek) 74; T10. ANDREW WHITE (EAGLECREST) 75; T10. Matthew Wilkinson (Arapahoe) 75
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Grandview (313): Kenny VanWormer 73, Alex Chitkoksoong 77, Josh Stone 81, Charles O’Donnell 82, Lukas Beisner 85; Cherokee Trail (325): Tyler Cassaday 77, Gavin Buttshaw 80, Michael Grube 83, Mason Bernard 85, Dylan Conrady 93; Eaglecrest (359): Andrew White 75, Landyn Garcia 88, Preston Unrein 98, Hunter Wallen 98, Noah Vieyra 101; Smoky Hill (380): Talyn Haskell 80, Ryan Keohane 98, Dallas Vieaux 100, Samuel Fruitman 102; Overland (NS): Noah Larchick 92, Dominic Gonzales 104
Other team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Cherry Creek (282): Sam Schouten 68, Charlie Flaxbeard 69, Logan Biggerstaff 72, Thomas Hicks 73, Jonathan Trigg 74; Arapahoe (296): Grant Juergens 71, Will Kates 74, Matthew Wilkinson 75, Graham Dzengelewski 76, Jack Rottschafer 83; Mullen (304): Rhett Johnson 72, Mario Dino 76, Andrew Brady 78, Ryan Brady 79, Thomas O’Sullivan 79