{"id":2486263,"date":"2023-08-14T22:05:20","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T04:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalt-boys-golf-wins-in-aspen-as-teams-jockey-for-early-season-momentum\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T22:05:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T04:05:20","slug":"basalt-boys-golf-wins-in-aspen-as-teams-jockey-for-early-season-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/basalt-boys-golf-wins-in-aspen-as-teams-jockey-for-early-season-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt boys golf wins in Aspen as teams jockey for early-season momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In recent years, the Basalt High School boys golf team has followed a similar path through the season. That is, the Longhorns start hot before sputtering down the stretch.<\/p>\n

But it seems this year\u2019s group has developed an appetite for that final course and hopes it will pay off as the fall moves along.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good group. They are working hard. A lot of them have worked hard over the summer on their games or at least put in some time. We feel pretty good,\u201d BHS coach Joey Chandra said. \u201cWe have a lot of experience coming back. The boys are hungry, and they are ready. We\u2019ve got some good competition on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandra, the assistant professional at Aspen Glen Club, is in his first season as the team\u2019s head coach after being approached for the job this past offseason by the former coaching staff, led by Travis Stewart. The season officially got underway last week and on Monday it was Aspen High School\u2019s turn to host with the Skier Invitational at Aspen Golf Club.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s too early to get too excited, the Longhorns\u2019 experience and depth was on display as they held on to win Monday\u2019s tourney with a collective 242, besting the host Skiers by seven strokes (249), with Colorado Academy finishing third (251).<\/p>\n

BHS junior Jackson Stewart, son of former coach Travis Stewart, finished Monday\u2019s round at 77 (6-over) to tie for first place with Steamboat\u2019s Michael Dinapoli. There was a three-way tie for third place between Basalt senior Garrett Exelbert, Colorado Academy\u2019s Colgin Youssi, and Vail Mountain\u2019s Tiki Jaffe, all with 78.<\/p>\n

Aspen did play without one of its expected top golfers, senior Matthew Cairncross, who withdrew because of illness.<\/p>\n

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Basalt High School senior Garrett Exelbert hits an approach shot during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club.<\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cGrowing up wrestling, you always wrestled better when you wrestled someone really good in practice,\u201d Chandra said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same in golf. You play against somebody really good in practice all the time and it creates competition. I think it creates good team spirit, too, and keeps the boys hungry and keeps them wanting to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basalt looks to keep this momentum going into the postseason. BHS was a disappointing eighth at the Class 3A state tournament a year ago, despite Exelbert sneaking into the top 10. In 2021, the Longhorns finished last (13th<\/sup>) among the scoring teams at state, and in 2020 didn\u2019t have enough individuals to record a team score.<\/p>\n

A team with a knack for finishing strong is Aspen. The Skiers won the 3A state championship in both 2018 and 2021<\/a>, not to mention Nic Pevny\u2019s individual title<\/a> in 2020, under the guidance of longtime coach Mary Woulfe. The hope is that this year\u2019s slow start can lead to similar results at the end for AHS, like it has so many times before.<\/p>\n

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Aspen High School senior Sasha Forman hits his approach shot on the 18th hole during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club.<\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had tough regular seasons where we don\u2019t necessarily play as good as we can and we just got to do what we can to learn from those experiences,\u201d AHS junior Ryan Rigney said. \u201cThis is our home course. We should win. This is our thing. But it\u2019s great, regardless of how we did. We were paired with Basalt, and it was fantastic. It was a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rigney admitted playing at home came with some added pressure, and maybe the Skiers could have handled it better. Rigney, who is firmly entrenched as one of the team\u2019s top golfers, settled for an 85 on Monday, tying for 10th<\/sup> place alongside senior teammate Sasha Forman. AHS senior Nik Kuhn was among the bigger surprises on the day, shooting 79 to finish in sixth place.<\/p>\n

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Aspen High School junior Ryan Rigney hits his approach shot on the 18th hole during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club.<\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Aspen High School junior Ryan Rigney walks off a green on the back nine during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club. <\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Aspen finished fifth at state last season \u2014\u00a0Vail Mountain won the 3A title \u2014\u00a0with then-senior Carson Miller posting the team\u2019s best score of 150 (72-78) to finish in ninth place. Rigney is the only returning member of Aspen\u2019s four-man state team from 2022, having shot 163 (82-81) to finish tied for 42nd<\/sup> place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile age-wise it\u2019s an older team, it\u2019s a relatively new group to competition. \u2026 I\u2019m excited to see it, because everyone is embracing it and doing well and learning everything they can in these early tournaments,\u201d said Rigney, who was less excited about his round on Monday. \u201cIt happens. Nothing I can do about it now, but just overthinking and overswinging. I got in my head and didn\u2019t really think about the bigger picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Skiers will get the chance to regroup on Tuesday with Basalt hosting a tournament at River Valley Ranch in Carbondale. For the Longhorns, it\u2019s another chance to build momentum as teams eye the regional tournament, which will be hosted Sept. 18 by Delta at Devil\u2019s Thumb Golf Course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to be at home. We are bringing two teams tomorrow, so we are pretty pumped for that,\u201d Chandra said. \u201cGive some of the other kids some experience, as well as it\u2019s our home course, so we are ready to win. The boys are hungry, and they will be ready to go. I think it will be fun. I know I\u2019m having fun already this season. I think the team is, too. That\u2019s the important part.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Class 3A state tournament is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 at RainDance National in Windsor, just outside of Fort Collins.<\/p>\n

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Basalt High School junior Jackson Stewart hits his tee shot during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club.<\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Golfers compete at the Aspen High School invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club. <\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Basalt High School senior Garrett Exelbert putts during the Skiers Invitational on Monday at Aspen Golf Club.<\/figcaption>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

acolbert@aspentimes.com <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent years, the Basalt High School boys golf team has followed a similar path through the season. That is, the Longhorns start hot before sputtering down the stretch. But it seems this year\u2019s group has developed an appetite for that final course and hopes it will pay off as the fall moves along. \u201cIt\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2486263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-30 21:24:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2486263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2486263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2486263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2486263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}