Niwot girls advance to Class 4A state golf championships

Battling high temperatures and pesky tree-lined fairways, the Niwot girls golf team held on for second place at the 2021 Region 3 tournament, and qualified as a team for the upcoming Class 4A state championships in the process. For Cougar head coach Ed Weaver, the hardest part of challenging for the 2021 state title is now behind them, at least from one perspective.

"It's harder to get to state because the regional is a one-day event, and if you don't play well, you go home," he said after the June 7 regional at Highland Hills golf course in Greeley. "So, there's more pressure here than there is at state."

Whatever pressure veteran Niwot golfers Sydney Rothstein and Halie Ostrom may have been feeling, they managed to shrug off well enough to finish in the top 10 and secure second place for Niwot. Boosted by a strong run of pars on the back nine, Rothstein paced the Cougars with an 86 (+14), which was good for third place overall. The junior will be making her second trip to state with Niwot, and hopes her normally reliable short game will help her improve on her 28th-place finish in 2019.

Meanwhile, Ostrom, a fourth-year varsity golfer, carded an 89 (+17), which landed her in seventh place overall. The Longs Peak League Player of the Year wasn't thrilled with her performance at Highland Hills, especially after making the turn, but is looking forward to her fourth trip to the two-day championships, and the chance to conquer some state tournament demons.

"I think state is a lot of fun, but it's really stressful," the recent graduate said after her final regional with Niwot. "Plus, I never really got a chance to redeem myself after sophomore year when I had a 15 on one of the holes. So I really hope that I shoot a lot better. The memory of that is something that's going to be motivating me."

Elsewhere, Niwot's two newcomers also turned in solid performances. Freshman Mina O'Dell was 11th overall, with a 97 (+25), while sophomore Kate Jones was 36th, with a 113 (+41). The Cougars finished with 272 points on the day, 11 strokes behind longtime foe Windsor, which edged out Niwot for the state title in 2019.

The Cougars have two weeks to savor their runner-up finish before the championships at Aurora's Common Ground golf course on June 21-22. Between now and then, Weaver said he plans to have team members focus on cleaning up their short games as, "That's where all of the strokes are going to be saved," according to Weaver. And with most of the tension of qualifying behind them, he is also going to urge them to enjoy their time on the course.

"We accomplished what we set out to accomplish," he said. "Now we can have some fun."