The Western Slope Regional Golf Tournament was held on Tuesday at Rifle Creek Golf Club with the Summit High golf team finishing in a tie for second place in the nine-school, 4A competition.

This was a play-four, count-three tournament, with only the championship team and the top-nine individuals (not on the championship team) moving on to the state tournament.

“It was the closest to a team qualification that Summit has been in my four-year tenure, as well as the first time we qualified more than one player,” said coach Gary Sorensen.

The Tigers qualified two players for the 2011 4A state tournament, held Oct. 3-4 at Pelican Lakes Golf Club in Windsor. The qualifiers were senior Evan Streit and junior Dylan Mitchell.

Mitchell, playing in the No. 1 position, got off to an uncharacteristically bad start, shooting 44 on his opening nine holes.

That side of the golf course (10-18) is made up by several high-risk, low-reward holes. Unfortunately for Mitchell, he took too many risks and got too few rewards, Sorensen said.

He knew he was in danger of not qualifying for a second consecutive state appearance, which would have been a bummer considering the way he played this fall. But not a quitter, he dug down and closed with a 34 on the back for a tied-for-seventh 78 and a season average of 73.

The team's No. 2 player, Evan Streit, led the team Tuesday with a score of 76. He played his typical consistent and smart golf, Sorensen said, shooting 40 on the opening nine and closing with an even-par on the back — steady and reliable with nine consecutive pars.

Also playing for Summit was sophomore Dave Metzger, shooting an 85 and tying for 18th and sophomore Corey McMurray, who shot a 96.

“(Mitchell and Streit) now have 10 days to correct and perfect the parts of their game that can help them lower their scores a couple more strokes,” Sorensen said. “I have nothing but high expectations for both of these young men. They are both capable of shooting low enough scores to impact the top players in the field.”