Michael Rosman stood on the tee box with just three holes left in the best round of golf in his life and allowed himself to think about the score for the first time.
Just a few weeks after Fossil Ridge’s Austin Barry shook up the Colorado prep golf world with a 59 that is believed to be the state record, Rosman stood over the 16th tee at Aurora Hills Golf Course Sept. 4 with the same score or better within range.
Rosman carded three eagles and three birdies among his first 13 holes at the Centennial League tournament and gave himself a moment to consider the possibilties if he could carry that kind of play to the finish.
“I wasn’t even thinking about the score,” Rosman told the Sentinel. “The first time I even thought about it was on the 16th tee and I thought ‘if I birdie out, I shoot 59.’ I was just worrying about every shot and about my set up. I just know I do what I need to do and the score will just happen.”
The 59 happened for Barry on Aug. 27 at the Harmony Club in Timnath, where the SaberCats’ senior finished 13-under-par — with what is believed to be the Colorado prep record — in a Northern League tournament. His round included an eagle along with 11 birdies and a putt on 18 that came up an inch short.
Rosman hadn’t come close to such a feat — with a low score of 69 during a league tournament at Foothills G.C. — but he had a pretty good senior season going. He had shot 72 or better in his previous four tournaments, finished under par twice and placed in the top eight in every tournament he played so far.
But he felt like there was more that he could achieve, so he made two or three “little changes,” that loomed large in the end. It resulted in a round that included three eagles — all on par 5s on holes 2, 12 and 13 — with three other birdies sprinkled in. Rosman could have matched Barry’s score with birdies on the final three holes, but made part on each instead.
“I was just approaching every shot and focusing on my setup and my posture,” Rosman said. “I can get a little sloppy and fall into bad habits, especially with putting. If you can’t putt, you can’t really score, so I focused on my setup and posture and doing that worked.”
Grandview head coach Kurtis Bailey has seen the work that Rosman has put in to get to this point and enjoyed how it came out in the round to remember.
“Michael is an excellent ballstriker and you match that with a putter on that day and it all came together for him really well,” Bailey said. “We see it in practice and we’ve seen him shoot low scores before, but to see him go out and do it in a tournament was great.”
Rosman is looking forward to what the rest of the rapidly moving season can bring. He has had a set of golf clubs in his hand from the age of 2 (plastic ones provided by his parents, so he could hit wiffle balls around his house) and said often enjoyed watching golf on television when he was a toddler.
Competitively, he branched out into other sports like basketball and also skied regularly until he got to high school, when he joined the golf team. He said he took the sport casually at first, but then developed a voracious urge to find anything he could do to improve his game.
That work, coupled with playing in the Centennial League, where he gets pushed by players such as Cherokee Trail’s Brayden Forte, Eaglecrest’s Gregory White, Smoky Hill’s Reece Nuwash and others, Rosman said he is “not in the same galaxy” now as he was as a freshman.
He truly believes that he has what it takes to win a state championship. He tied for 62nd at the 5A state tournament as a sophomore and moved all the way up to a tie for 14th as a junior. In Rosman’s senior year, the state tournament just happens to be scheduled for Oct. 7-8 at CommonGround G.C., where he shot his previous low career round, a 64.
“Last time I played at CommonGround, it felt so easy,” he said. “It was good off the tee and the greens felt good. If the putter works, I’m the best player in the state. I’m going to try to focus on the simple stuff and it works out more often than not.”
Rosman currently has the individual lead in the Centennial League going into the final tournament Sept. 11 at Saddle Rock G.C., with Cherry Creek’s Henry Starr and White also in contention. Once the league is complete, teams will be dispersed into 5A regional state qualifying tournaments Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
Rosman’s score stood out, but there have been a lot of quality rounds played by Aurora golfers this season. Forte shot a 6-under-par 64 to win the City League tournament at City Park G.C. and is part of a group of Cougars that is completely intact after they finished in a tie for second place last season.
White has won two league tournaments of his own (with a low of 66), Nuwash has been a top-10 placer in most every tournament and Regis Jesuit has several returning state qualifiers been at or near the top of every Continental League tournament thus far.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
