On Wednesday, Aug. 29, the Red Devils dominated the Monticello Buckaroos in a match at the Hideout Golf Course in Monticello. The win was Grand’s third victory in a row in as many tournaments, which put the Red Devils at the top of the region roster by 32 strokes.
A week later, Grand traveled to Castle Dale, where the team lost to Richfield by two points, largely due to a younger group of golfers on the scorecard, according to coaches. GCHS senior Hunter Butterfield tied at Castle Dale for first place, which kept Grand ranked first in the region.
“I think we didn’t do as well at Castle Dale because we took a lot of younger players,” said Hazlett. “Our seniors kind of struggled and didn’t make the cut for that competition, so we were playing with much more inexperienced players. Dale Thomas and Hunter Butterfield are our solid seniors and they’re consistently our first and second players, but it’s those third, fourth, fifth, and sixth slots that are still kind of up in the air, which is really strange this late in the season.”
Underclassmen Tyson Saggboy and Jace Woodard are currently among those who are vying for the scoring slots with the team, but the size of the team has prevented any one player from consistently holding those slots, Hazlett said.
“It’s kind of sad,” said Hazlett. “As far as individual region standings go, Dale is at number one and Hunter is right behind him in number two. But some of our other seniors started off the season so well and now they’re kind of choking. We’re still very optimistic about region though. We’re a little more cautious about state, but things are still looking good and we’re still pretty optimistic.”
The Red Devils will next travel to Price to play at the Carbon Country Club on Wednesday, Sept. 12, before hosting their home tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the Moab Golf Course. Tee-off time for both is scheduled for 11 a.m.