Fossil Ridge golf qualified all four of their players for the state tournament after a nail biting regional finish.

The Sabercats started the day off strong, firmly in a top two spot for most of the day. But as the day went along, Fossil began to have some issues. Several mistakes early let Valor Christian and Heritage jump ahead of them. The Sabercats found themselves in third, with no automatic guarantee of the entire team making into State. 

However, most of the team was in good shape, with Kaden Davenport, Grant Samuelson, and Landon Houska all finishing inside of the top ten. All three golfers ended the day with 75 strokes or less, the only team to accomplish such a feat. However sophomore Austin Barry found himself on the bubble, and had to compete in a play-off to earn his spot at State. Despite the extra nerves, Barry was able to pull through and join one of fourteen other teams to bring all four members to the tournament.

“Morale was high. We would’ve never have planned it that way…there was some added stress, but there was that emotional high of Austin [Barry] winning the playoff,” said head coach Jamie Menefee.

While the team is not coming in with expectations of winning the state title, coach Menefee feels that the Sabercats certainly have a shot at bringing home the trophy. 

“We’ve got a chance to compete for a state title…our best is pretty close to the best of any team in the state…we haven’t had all four players all play really well on the same day…if we can do that for two days, we have a shot at the state championship,” Menefee said.

The state tournament will take place this Monday and Tuesday at the City Park Golf Course in Denver.