{"id":27656,"date":"2024-05-15T18:38:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T00:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-golf-heads-to-state-after-its-highest-regional-finish\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:07:41","slug":"panthers-golf-heads-to-state-after-its-highest-regional-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-golf-heads-to-state-after-its-highest-regional-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers golf heads to state after its highest regional finish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chesnie
Chesnie Patrick of Montezuma-Cortez drives the ball on Tuesday at Cortez\u2019s home tournament. Patrick shot a 91, helping M-CHS shoot a season-best 288. (Cody Olivas\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

For all that the Montezuma-Cortez girls golf program has achieved in the past decade, the list of unaccomplished achievements shrinks with each passing year. After their regional performance in Alamosa Tuesday morning, the Panthers can check off another landmark achievement to the team\u2019s growing lore.<\/p>\n

The Panthers posted their best-ever regional finish, taking second place in the Region 4 tournament at Cattails Golf Course, earning second year head coach Travis Wright\u2019s team a qualifying place for next week\u2019s 3A state tournament.<\/p>\n

Senior Chesnie Patrick led a trio of Panthers who finished in the top five in the field, as M-CHS scored 262 to take the runner-up spot behind regional champion Aspen (249). As she has for much of her four years as a state qualifier, Patrick posted a steady round of 85 to take third overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the bittersweet emotions of playing in her last high school tournaments, she\u2019s been able to stay laser-focused,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Amita Crowley carded an 87 to take fourth for the Panthers and make a return trip to the state field. Often trading team-high honors with Patrick, Crowley\u2019s breakout season placed her near the top of every tournament field all season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the best sophomore in the 3A classification,\u201d said Wright of Crowley, \u201cand she\u2019s enjoyed many personal bests this year \u2013 she\u2019ll definitely be a leader for this program for the next two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Classmate Afton Unrein claimed fifth with a round of 90, joining Crowley with a second state appearance on her r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfton\u2019s been such a strong presence for us this year,\u201d added Wright, \u201cshe\u2019s been a player that we\u2019ve really counted on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Erin Lawrence enjoyed a strong regional round that continued her growth this season, posting a 106 to finish 20th in the field, and earn herself a spot with her Panther teammates for her inaugural state trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cErin made huge strides this year, breaking 100 for the first time this year,\u201d said Wright, \u201cshe\u2019s been the life of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panther growth, according the Wright, also stemmed from his assistant coach. \u201cCoach Jordan has been a major factor in our success, she\u2019s patient and makes an emotional connection with the girls, which has helped us reach new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspen\u2019s Lenna Persson took medalist honors in the tournament, scoring 71 to lead the Skiers to the team crown.<\/p>\n

The Panthers, coming off a top 10 finish in 2023, head to The Olde Course in Loveland on Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21 for the 36-hole state tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M-CHS takes second place in Region 4 tournament<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80149,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656\/revisions\/80149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27656"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}