On May 7, the Dolores golf team qualified two team members for the state tournament for the first time ever.
Playing in the Class 4A Western Regional at Yampa Valley Golf Course in Craig, the Lady Bears finished in third place with a team score of 266, just one stroke behind second-place finisher Eagle Valley. Rifle won the region with a 252.
“They just did so awesome,” assistant coach Monica Plewe said of the team. “They just ground it out. They were playing in horrible rain and were soaked by the time they got through.”
Plewe’s daughter Kiselya led the Lady Bears with a 74, finishing one stoke behind Rifle’s Elly Walters in second place.
“She was just a little off on the front side,” said head coach Jeff Carr. “But her short game definitely kept her in it. She didn’t quite have all of her stuff going, but she birdied the last two holes to finish really strong.”
Senior Abigail Smith was the second member to qualify for the state tournament, finishing as the second alternate after shooting a career best.
Smith had never broken 100 before, but she finished with a 93 and tied for the final state-qualifying spot. She later fell to the second alternate spot after losing in a playoff, but depending on the number of players in the other Class 4A regional tournaments, she could move up to the first alternate position.
Even if she is the second alternate, Carr said that he expects Smith to travel to the state tournament, saying that anything could happen and citing professional golfer John Daly’s first championship.
A tour rookie out of the University of Arkansas, Daly was the ninth alternate and – after multiple players dropped out – he came out of nowhere to win the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Keyana Matteson and Kyra Allen also broke new ground to round out the Lady Bears’ squad.
Matteson broke 100 for the first time and finished with a personal best of 99, and Allen shot a 125.
Although it was not Allen’s best outing, it was the lowest regional debut by a Dolores freshman since Plewe shot an 82 in 2013.
Plewe, and most likely Smith, will head to the Colorado State Championships May 23-24 at Pueblo Country Club.
Leading up to state tournament play, Carr plans to stress the short game in practice.
“It really does all boil down to the short game,” he said. “You’re going to hit some wayward shots once in a while and that causes you to focus on the short game.”