The Summit High School golf team does not get very many opportunities to play in front of a home crowd.

While several of the team’s tournaments are in close proximity to Summit County, the Tigers only host one home golf tournament every year in the Summit Tiger Invitational.  

Taking place at the Keystone Ranch Golf Course on Thursday, Sept. 11, this year’s Summit Tiger Invitational drew competitive teams from across the Western Slope. Despite the strong field, Summit rose to the challenge, placing two athletes in the top 10 and narrowly clinching the team title.

Leading the results for the Tigers were junior Parker Gray and senior Hogan Tobias. Gray and Grand Junction High School’s Hunter Simmons hovered under par for the majority of the day, but it was Simmons who eventually came out on top. 

Shooting five strokes under par, Simmons won the tournament, while Gray shot at par (72) to take second overall. Tobias pieced together a strong game of his own, recording a score of 76 (+4) to tie for fifth place overall with three other golfers. 

Summit’s five-golfer top varsity team had one more athlete finish within the top 25. Shooting an 82, senior Ryan Lankhorst tied for 25th. Summit senior Colton Jones tied for 34th (84) with senior Eli Hurwitch tying for 53rd (90).

With the top three golfers from each team counting towards the team score, Summit combined for a score of 230 points to beat Grand Junction High School by just one point (231). Grand Junction was followed in second place by Vail Christian in third (232), Eagle Valley in fourth (235) and Fruita Monument as well as Basalt in fifth (236).

The athletes on Summit’s top varsity team were not the only ones to have success on Thursday, as five linksmen took to the course as part of the Tigers’ second varsity-level team. Junior Hunter Plummer led the results for the Tigers, securing a top 10 finish by tying for 10th-place overall.

The impressive finish gave Summit’s second varsity team the push it needed to finish ninth overall in the team rankings. With the team’s top three golfers averaging a score of 83 (+11), Summit combined for a score of 249 to finish one point behind Palisade in eighth place (248).

Prior to the team’s home tournament, Summit competed highly at the Cherry Creek Invitational on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The competition included 19 total teams with the reigning 3A, 4A and 5A state champs all in attendance.

Summit proved it is a formidable team in the state, placing in the top half of the tournament in seventh-place overall (315). The Tigers were led by Tobias in 26th place (76) with Gray taking 34th (78) and Jones finishing in 43rd (80).

With five tournaments under the team’s belt, Summit will now prepare for a busy next couple of weeks. The Tigers will compete in a total of three varsity tournaments next week, beginning with a competition in Montrose on Monday, Sept. 15. 

After that, Summit will travel to Steamboat Springs on Tuesday, Sept. 16, and then Leadville on Friday, Sept. 19.