After a rough first day, Manitou Springs High School’s Tyler Parratt and Madison Sharon settled down to take several strokes off their scores in the second round of the Class 3A girls golf tournament on June 1 at the Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield.
Parratt finished the better of the two Mustangs and carded a 26-over-par 98 on the second day. She shot a total of 206 to finish in 53rd place. Sharon also took 10 shots off her first-day score to shoot 107, giving her a total of 224, which put her in 65th.
The improvement was a welcome sight for both girls and for coach Ken Vecchio.
“They were a little more relaxed and the weather was a bit better, which helped them out,” Vecchio said. “They got off to a better start in terms of putting the ball in play. They both felt good about the second day.”
It was the second state tournament appearance for Parratt and the first for Sharon. The key heading into 2023 is making sure those nerves don’t make an appearance on the first day.
“They learned from this experience that they need to be ready on the first day,” Vecchio said. “The nerves were a part of it, and you need to be able to shake off that stuff.”
If a third player can qualify for next year’s tournament, Manitou would have a full team to compete at state, which has never happened in the program’s history.
“That’d be pretty cool,” Vecchio said. “I know a lot of the girls improved from the beginning of the year to the end. A few of them have committed to doing some things in the summer. If that pans out, they should have a shot at qualifying next year.”