There was no endorsement deal involved, but shortly after winning the individual title at the 5A girls state high school tournament, Mary Weinstein noted that she was going to Disney World.
After an eventful Monday and Tuesday, she’d earned it.
On Monday, Weinstein built a four-stroke lead in tough weather conditions at CommonGround Golf Course. That night, she graduated from Regis Jesuit High School. Then on Tuesday, she won the individual championship by four strokes despite four-putting the 18th green.
“It feels great,” she said, noting that the Disney trip will be followed by a cruise with her family. “I have not done well at state my freshman, sophomore or junior years, so I really wanted to go out with a bang, and I feel like I did that today.”
And the same can be said for Grandview, which ended Regis Jesuit’s two-year reign as 5A team champion. In a team competition that went down to the last group at the last hole, the Wolves (pictured below) edged Regis by two strokes to earn their first state championship in girls golf.
Had Weinstein two-putted from long distance on the 18th hole and made birdie, the teams would have tied, but Grandview prevailed in regulation with an 8-over-par 224 score on Tuesday and a two-day total of 30-over 462.
With freshman Amy Chitkoksoong, the 2015 CWGA Junior Match Play champion, finishing second individually and senior Morgan Sahm placing third for the second straight year, they set the tone for the Wolves, who rallied from an eight-stroke deficit after round 1. Also on the state-title winning squad were Caitlin O’Donnell (30th) and Ryan Morgan (51st). (Sahm, in blue, and Weinstein are pictured at top chatting on the 18th green after finishing their high school careers.)
“It’s amazing,” said Sahm, the 2015 CJGA Tournament of Champions winner and a University of Northern Colorado signee. “I’m so proud of my team. It’s a great way to end my senior year. I couldn’t have asked for anything else. I’m so happy for Mary winning individually. I’ve grown up playing with her, so I’m very proud of her. But to win as a team really means a lot to me. I’m very happy.”
Added Chitkoksoong, who birdied the last hole to give Grandview the lead: “It feels really great, to be honest. We were neck and neck with Regis, and just being able to push through those last holes really made a difference.”
While the team race went right down to the wire, the individual competition was never particularly close on Tuesday. Weinstein (left), the 2015 CWGA Junior Player of the Year and 2015 CWGA Junior Stroke Play champ, left little doubt with a 3-under-par 69 in the final round, giving her a two-day total of 4-under 140. And that was despite the four-putt on her final hole.
Weinstein, a Regis University signee, eagled the par-5 fifth hole from 10 feet and added three birdies in the final round.
“That four-putt was not my greatest moment, but I wouldn’t change anything for the world,” said Weinstein, who finished 15th in last year’s prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships.
Weinstein has been a semi-regular at CommonGround this year as she’s part of the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program there, but she said that didn’t give her any home-course advantage as she practices plenty at the facility but rarely plays the championship course.
Meanwhile, Chikoksoong carded the low round of the tournament on Tuesday — a 4-under-par 68 — to place second individually as a freshman, ending up at even-par 144. She made four straight birdies on Tuesday (holes 3-6) and six overall for the day.
Unfortunately, she can look at the four strokes she finished behind Weinstein and trace it all back to one hole, the 296-yard par-4 fourth, where she made a quadruple-bogey 8 in the first round.
“I guess I got kind of greedy on that one hole, trying to get on (the green) in one and pushed my shot into the trees,” she said. “I was so caught up in the moment that I just took shot after shot. I messed up on that hole. It was pretty upsetting. I just had to deal with it and keep moving on. That’s what today was — to keep making up those strokes.
“I ‘m really proud of how I played the second day. The first day, I guess I made a mental mistake and that pretty much cost me my round. We’re out here to win, you know, and coming in runner-up is kind of upsetting. But you’ve got to tip your hat to the winner. Mary had a great round and she completely deserves the win.”
Sahm, meanwhile, posted her fourth top-10 finish at state by ending up third. She carded a 73 on Tuesday to check in at 148.
“That’s OK,” she said. “I’m just happy I’m done with senior year and that ended it this way (with a team title).”
Final-Hole Birdie Proves Difference for Sargent in 4A: Erin Sargent of Silver Creek birdied the final hole of her high school golf career, giving her the individual title Tuesday in the 4A state meet at Pueblo Country Club.
The 10-foot birdie putt gave the University of Wyoming signee a one-stroke victory over playing partner Caroline Jordaan of Colorado Academy. Both players closed with 2-over-par 74s, with Sargent ending up with a two-day total of 5-over-par 149.
Sargent, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open last year, made three birdies — including on the first and last holes of the day — and five bogeys for round 2. Jordaan parred 11 of her final 12 holes, with a bogey on 16 proving costly.
But Jordaan’s Colorado Academy squad ran away with the team title, ending Cheyenne Mountain’s streak of three conscutive championships in 4A. CA posted a 36-over-par 468 total, while Cheyenne Mountain was second at 520.
For scores from the girls state tournaments, click on the following: 5A, 4A
