Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley girls golf teams set for rivalry dual at Eagle Ranch

The Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley girls golf teams are riding some serious momentum going into Thursday’s rivalry dual at Eagle Ranch Golf Club.

Makena Thayer won the individual crown at the Skiers Invitational in Carbondale on April 14. The following day, she and Eagle Valley senior Julia Borejszo finished second and third, respectively, at the Demon Invitational held at River Valley Ranch. The Huskies placed second as a team at the former event, just two strokes back from Glenwood Springs. Thayer carded a 73 to win by eight strokes.

“She bogeyed the first hole and then she just got rolling,” coach Phil Tronsrue said.

Thayer knocked in six straight pars after the initial hiccup. She posted another bogey at 13 but nailed a birdie on the par-4 15th hole before closing out her trip around the 5,295-yard Aspen Glen Club course with eight consecutive pars. Considering the weather wasn’t exactly ideal, Tronsrue thought the senior played well.

“It was pretty cold, it rained a little bit. A couple of the greens were covered in white, and so everybody had to kind of hold off for about 10 minutes and let it melt down,” he explained. “She played really well that day for all the weather conditions.”

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The second-year head coach said Thayer — a three-time all-state recipient who finished 13th in 4A as a freshman and was a program-best fourth overall in each of her last two trips to the big dance — improved her short-game over the off-season.

“I think she’s doing that better,” the coach said. “She’s really tough mentally, and she’s always been that way.”

The Huskies have 27 athletes out this spring. Tronsrue has been encouraged by the team’s improved culture.

“I think we have a good group of younger girls that are starting to approach the game better and a little more serious and that’s exciting,” he said.

On April 15, Katharina Cosby — who was second to Thayer the previous day — shot a 74 to win the Demon Invitational. The Steamboat Springs senior finished two strokes ahead of Thayer, who was 12 shots in front of Borejszo in third. Keena Shikverg (105) and Ruby Enyart (123) guided the Huskies to fourth in the team race. Teegan Terbush (121) and Chelsie James (133) rounded out Eagle Valley’s scoring trio as the Devils finished eighth out of 10 teams.

Eagle Valley traveled to Rifle on Monday. Freshman Claire Walker shot a 92 for bronze, just seven strokes back from Gunnison’s winner Aiden Tomlin. Walker has broken 100 in all three varsity matches this season. Borejszo tied for fifth on the day with a 96.

The Eagle County rivals are slated to compete in a dual on Thursday afternoon at Eagle Ranch. Players will tee off at 1 p.m. On May 4, both squads — along with eight others — will reconvene for another tournament at Eagle Ranch.

The Colorado High School Activities Association eliminated regional tournaments for both boys and girls golf last fall. Thus, the top 84 players in the iWanamaker rankings — based on an individual’s best five rounds — as of the Saturday prior to the state tournament (set for May 17 and 18) will be the state qualifiers.

Battle Mountain’s No. 2 golfer, Caleigh Kackman, has been sidelined by an injured thumb for about the last month. If she can return and play well across at least three more tournaments in the next week and a half, she could punch her ticket along with Thayer, Tronsrue said.

“We’re going to see how things look today tomorrow and Wednesday and see if she’s capable of playing on Thursday,” Tronsrue said. “Hopefully so.” 

Belen Hahn shot 107 to place seventh and Keena Shikverg was three strokes back in eighth in Aspen. Shikverg is also currently right on the state-qualifying bubble.

“If she can run some tournaments back to back where she’s shooting right around 100, she might actually slip in and qualify,” Tronsrue said.

As it stands today, the iWanamaker 3A state qualifying rankings have Thayer at 11th, Walker in 38th (but needing to contest two more rounds), Borejszo — who was 36th in her first state appearance last year — at 49th and Kackman at 69th (but needing four more rounds).