The Fossil Ridge boys golf team reached the top of the mountain, winning the Colorado 5A State Tournament in Denver on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.

The road for the Sabercats was not a straight one, but Fossil made sure to show up when it counted.  

The team never won a single conference meet during the entire regular season, but emerged victorious during the conference championship. 

During regionals Fossil held the lead for most of the day, but fell late and squeaked their entire team into the state tournament, after a playoff win from sophomore Austin Barry.

Barry bounced back during the first round of the State Tournament, shooting six under par and leading the field by six strokes.

“My putting was just really good…I felt like I was making everything,” Barry said.

The second day started off the polar opposite direction for Barry, sitting at a plus six for the day through the first twelve holes. The key again for Barry was putting, as he didn’t make a single distance putt for those first twelve holes.

Barry wrapped up his day quite nicely, finishing the last six holes with a -2 including back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14. That performance was good enough to earn Barry third place overall in the individual rankings and still finished first for the Sabercats.

Fossil’s second leading scorer was freshman Landon Houska, who had a more consistent outing with Barry.

Houska finished his first round with a -1, and his second day almost identical at even. Houska’s highlight for the tournament was scoring an eagle on hole 13 on round two after scoring a birdie on the same hole the previous day.

In addition to being extremely talented, the Sabercats are also extremely young. Three of their four golfers are underclassmen, including sophomore Kaden Davenport along with Barry and Houska. 

“There’s great team chemistry…just being a freshman and finishing that well, I’m proud of myself, and I know a lot of people are proud of me. I’m extremely grateful for that,” Houska said.

The only senior on the team is Grant Samuelson, enjoying the best possible send-off to his high school golf career. But with Samuelson as the only one graduating, the team looks to stay together and turn this championship into a dynasty.

Until then, the team will have plenty of time to bask in their glory and enjoy all the hard work they put into this season.