{"id":44873,"date":"2021-09-03T01:33:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T07:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/thayer-plewe-wins-cortez-tournament-for-third-time\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:22:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:22:06","slug":"thayer-plewe-wins-cortez-tournament-for-third-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/thayer-plewe-wins-cortez-tournament-for-third-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Thayer Plewe wins Cortez tournament for third time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Thayer
Thayer Plewe of Montezuma-Cortez High School reacts after sinking a 40-foot putt Thursday at Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez. Plewe went on to win the tournament. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s home golf tournament was a little bit bigger this year as teams came for a preview of the Conquistador Golf Course before it hosts the regional championships in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

The extra competition at this year\u2019s Panther Invitational, however, didn\u2019t prevent Cortez\u2019s Thayer Plewe from winning the tournament for the third year in a row. Plewe, a junior, sank six birdies and bogeyed only three holes to shoot a 3-under 69 and claim the crown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to shoot well on your home course, especially in a tournament setting,\u201d Plewe said. \u201cBut you have to treat it like any other tournament so you don\u2019t put too much pressure on yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his highlights came on hole No. 14. Plewe drained a putt from about 40 feet to birdie the hole. \u201cThat was a good momentum changer,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the front nine, I was striking well, but I wasn\u2019t making a lot of putts. That gave me some confidence and gave me some positivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plewe birdied the next hole as well and finished his round with three pars to win the tournament by nine strokes.<\/p>\n

Fruita Monument\u2019s Ky Korte shot a 78 to take second while his teammate, Kade Hayward, shot a 79 to finish third. Durango\u2019s Anthony Flint also shot a 79, but finished fourth in a tie-breaker. Three other golfers shot an 80.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played pretty solid,\u201d Flint said. \u201cThe course was playing tough, but that was definitely the best I\u2019ve hit the ball this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anthony
Anthony Flint of Durango High School tees off Thursday at the Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Flint\u2019s scores have progressively improved throughout the season, and his round Thursday was his lowest score of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was big breaking 80,\u201d Flint said. \u201cNow I\u2019ve gotten over that hump, so I just have to keep that momentum rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rain also fell on the golfers for the first hour or so of the competition and the wetness slowed the course down for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back, it was kind of fun,\u201d Plewe said. \u201cIt\u2019s not always going to be great weather, but that\u2019s just golf. Everyone has to play in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a different challenge; it\u2019s a lot longer of a course when it\u2019s that rainy,\u201d Flint said.<\/p>\n

Cortez head coach Todd Plewe credited the course\u2019s ground staff for they work they did. \u201cThey did a fabulous job getting the course playable,\u201d coach Plewe said.<\/p>\n

In the team race, Fruita Monument finished first with a 237. Cortez shot a 246 to place second, three shots ahead of Gunnison. Durango shot a 255 to place fourth, one better that fifth-place Grand Junction. Pagosa Springs (265), Telluride (267), Alamosa (281), Del Norte (285), Cedaredge (288) and Central Grand Junction (311) also competed in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Freshman Vince Lopez was Cortez\u2019s No. 2 golfer, shooting an 84, while another freshman, Gavin Frost, rounded out the team\u2019s score with a 93.<\/p>\n

\"Cortez\u2019s
Cortez\u2019s Vince Lopez chips up onto the green while playing on Thursday at Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cVince did OK, but I know he\u2019s capable of a little more,\u201d coach Plewe said. \u201cGavin shot a 93 \u2013 for him, that\u2019s a good round. It was good to see some freshmen stepping up in the home tournament. Overall, I\u2019m a little disappointed in our team score. We can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Ryan Sanders shot a 96, and sophomores Kaden Huff and Airoughn VanGrandt both shot 98 for Cortez.<\/p>\n

For the Demons, freshman Bailey Burke had the team\u2019s-second best round with an 86.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was Bailey\u2019s first varsity start,\u201d said DHS head coach Kirk Rawles. \u201cTo come out and shoot an 86, that was a really good round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Cole Ulrich shot a 90 for Durango, junior Mason O\u2019Brien shot a 92, and freshman Owen Muraro shot a 94.<\/p>\n

\"Owen
Owen Muraro of Durango High School hits down the fairway on Thursday at Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango was also without Nicholas Best, who was sick. Best led the team at the Pagosa Invitational last week with an 87 and a third-place finish. Flint shot an 88 to place fifth in Pagosa, while Plew won it with a 68.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest has been our most consistent golfer,\u201d coach Rawles said. \u201cAll of his rounds have been in the 80s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several junior varsity athletes from Cortez and Durango also played. Durango was able to get 12 golfers some competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little different this year \u2013 we\u2019re looking at 42 golfers,\u201d Rawles said. \u201cWe\u2019ll give them an all an opportunity.\u201d The coach said the team will do some match play this next week, playing one-on-one nine-hole matches with the winners moving on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will help us get focused and will be fun internally,\u201d Rawles said. \u201cThey want to beat each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Cortez, Thayer Plewe said a \u201cteam mindset\u201d is the biggest thing as regionals approach in a couple of weeks. He emphasized that every stroke is important for the team score.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez head coach Todd Plewe encourages his player Vince Lopez on Thursday at the Conquistador Golf Course. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to find that groove for our team and I\u2019d love to see those good days become even better,\u201d Plewe said. \u201cI know we have better in us and I cant wait to show it at regionals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scoring another individual title on his home course, meanwhile, \u201cfeels great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Thayer
Thayer Plewe tees off on Thursday at his home golf course in Cortez. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

fourth to lead Durango<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[592,2261,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-high-school","tag-golf","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873","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=44873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86259,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873\/revisions\/86259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44873"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}