The Summit High School golf team entered the fall season with one real goal on its mind — qualifying golfers to the state tourney. 

While winning regular season tournaments was still a major priority for the team, the Tigers’ main objective was to send several golfers to the 84-athlete Class 4A state tournament at the beginning of October.

This season, qualifying golfers to the state tournament proved to be more challenging than in past years. In contrast to previous years when advancement to the state competition depended solely on the regional tournament, this year’s selections were determined by the top-ranked individual golfers in each classification.

While the previous qualifying process placed an emphasis on how golfers played on a single day, the new guidelines weigh a player’s top five rounds of golf throughout the entire season. 

The top 84 golfers on IWannaMaker then advance to the state tournament, with each team being limited to four golfers each.The new format ultimately puts more stress on regular season tournaments, forcing golfers to play well throughout the season instead of at a regional tournament in late September.

Coming off the 2024 fall season where the team qualified a total of three golfers to the state tourney, the Tigers were hopeful to be represented by an entire team unit at the state tournament in Longmont this fall. 

Even though the team was able to place highly in several tournaments throughout the season, Summit concluded its slate of regular season tournaments with two athletes within the top 84. 

Senior Hogan Tobias was Summit’s highest ranked linksman. The experienced golfer finished the season ranked in the exact middle of the 84-man field in 42nd. After serving as an alternate for the state team last year, Tobias will make his debut at the state tournament on Monday, Oct. 6, at The Fox Hill Club in Longmont. 

Tobias will be joined by another debutant at the state tournament — junior Parker Gray. Routinely putting together solid rounds of golf throughout the season, Gray qualified for the state tourney ranked 64th in 4A. 

“I’m super proud of them,” head coach Zach Dobrota said. “They’re both first-time qualifiers and I know Hogan kind of had something to prove by narrowly missing it last year. Parker played some super steady golf when he needed to, and even his bad rounds were good. He kind of came out of nowhere which was awesome to see, so yeah I’m super excited to see what they can do.”

With Summit being the only team in the Western Slope region, Tobias and Gray will represent the area to the best of their ability. The two linksmen will have the opportunity to compete alongside several other talented golfers from the nearby Southwestern region which includes full, four-golfer teams from Durango and Grand Junction. 

The duo aims to surpass last fall’s state team, whose golfers all placed inside the top 70.

Both Tobias and Gray should be familiar with the site of the 2025 state tournament — The Fox Hill Club — after playing the course at the Fox Hill Invitational on Sept. 17. At the tournament, the course seemed to favor Gray’s skillset, resulting in the junior leading the team with a sixth-place finish (73). 

Gray was closely followed by Tobias, who tied for 17th place (75). 

“Having a round under their belt there is awesome,” Dobrota said. “It gives them a little bit of course knowledge. They know what they have done there previously.  … We are going to head down Sunday afternoon and play a practice round as well.”

Tobias and Gray will both begin the 4A state tournament by playing their first rounds on Monday morning, Oct. 6. 

Tobias will be paired with Coronado High School’s Carson Greene and Northridge High School’s Everett Lewis for the first round of golf. Gray will be paired with Sand Creek High School’s Caleb Grenier and Ponderosa High School’s Zachary Senior. Tobias will begin the first round of the state tourney at 11 a.m., with Gray’s group following at 11:10 a.m. 

All 84 golfers will play 36 holes at the state tournament, with the second round taking place on Tuesday, Oct. 7. For state championship updates, ChsaaNow.com.