BOULDER | With two of its four players shooting under par, the Regis Jesuit boys golf team cruised to the championship of Thursday’s Class 5A Western Region tournament played at Flatirons Golf Course.
Coach Craig Rogers’ Raiders earned the regional title and automatic team berth in the Oct. 2-3 5A state tournament at Collindale G.C. in Fort Collins by an eight-stroke margin over Valor Christian, which edged Boulder for the other team spot at state.
Juniors Anthony Lore and Sam Walker jockeyed for the lead of the tournament in the late stages and it was Lore who prevailed with a final score of 2-under-par 68 to best Walker by one stroke. The third score for Regis Jesuit came from junior Roland Thornton — who tied for sixth with a 73 — while junior Ben Sander shot 74 and tied for 13th.
“I was really proud of the boys for having quite a day,” Rogers said. “Usually, regionals are stressful and it goes down to the wire, but we got off to a good start and we were able to have a fairly comfortable lead most of the day. It was a beautiful day out there and fun to see them play great golf.”
Rogers generally advocates that his players take a more conservative approach at regionals given that making it to the state tournament is the ultimate goal and for the most part his Raiders — who finished the regular season as the Continental League runners-up — stuck to that directive.
Lore — who has come on strong in recent weeks and finished as medalist in the last league tournament — survived a back nine that included a rollercoaster ride (during which he alternated birdies and bogeys for a six-hole stretch) before a steady finish to a round that Rogers called “exciting.”
He came in a stroke ahead of Walker, who had a five-birdie day himself.
Thornton admittedly didn’t have his top form, but still had managed two birdies and gritted his way to a 73, which put him in a tie for sixth place that also included Grandview junior Michael Rosman, whose performance earned him an individual spot in the state tournament for the second straight season.
Sander had a stretch of 10 consecutive pars before a few bogeys brought him in plus-4.
“Our guys just played smart and managed the course really well,” Rogers said. “They definitely left the driver in their bag for most of the day and that course definitely favored guys that chose carefully off the tee box. I’m proud of the way they didn’t do anything crazy and fought their way through the round.”
Rosman and the Regis Jesuit team join Central Region champion Cherokee Trail (including medalist Brayden Forte) as well as Eaglecrest sophomore Gregory White and Smoky Hill sophomore Hudson Roth among Aurora qualifiers for the state tournament.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Class 5A Western Region Boys Golf Tournament
Sept. 21 at Flatirons Golf Course
Team scores (top two teams qualify for state): 1. REGIS JESUIT 210; 2. Valor Christian 219; 3. Boulder 222; 4. Fairview 227; 5. Fruita Monument 228; 6. Arvada West 230; 7. Mountain Vista 234; 8. Rocky Mountain 235; 9. Douglas County 239; 10. GRANDVIEW 240; 11. LIberty 248
Top 15 individuals (par 70): 1. ANTHONY LORE (REGIS JESUIT) 68; 2. SAM WALKER (REGIS JESUIT) 69; 3. Parker Pfitzer (Arvada West) 70; 4. Dillon Jones (Fruita Monument) 71; 5. Sawyer Sales (Fairview) 72; T6. MICHAEL ROSMAN (GRANDVIEW) 73; T6. ROLAND THORNTON (REGIS JESUIT) 73; T6. Conner Scheich (Mountain Vista) 73; T6. Doug Holleman (Boulder) 73; T6. Maxwell Eide (Valor Christian) 73; T6. Campbell McFadden (Valor Christian) 73; T6. Ian O’Fallon (Valor Christian) 73; T13. BEN SANDER (REGIS JESUIT) 74; T13. Sam Skubic (Boulder) 74; T15. Stone Carver (Fruita Monument) 75; T15. Boden Wrenn (Boulder) 75
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Regis Jesuit (210): 1. Anthony Lore 68, 2. Sam Walker 69, T6. Roland Thornton 73, T13. Ben Sander 75; Grandview (240): T6. Michael Rosman 73, T29. Andrew Sinar 82; T37. Andy Blake 85; Nick Scott 78 DQ