Done but not satisfied

All things considered, the complaints and disappointments were superseded by the accomplishments.

And never mind the aspirations were quite high. They will be relevant for at least a couple of years.

Mullen finished the second round of the Colorado Class 4A boys golf tournament on Tuesday with an individual placer in the top 10 and grabbing fifth place among teams. Competing at The Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs, sophomore Mario Dino fired a 1-over-par 73 to finish seventh and the Mustangs finished at plus-47 as a team.

“Oh, yeah,” Mustangs head coach Jerry Koehler said. “Expectation-wise, they were looking much higher and there’s definitely some disappointment there.  But it was a tough course and they still played pretty well in taking fifth place. We’ haven’t been in fifth place in quite a while, probably since (last decade).”

Dino, who shot 79 on Monday, didn’t begin Round 2 well, but adjusted, kept it together and distinguished himself. He finished 37-36 and had four birdies.

“It was a good day,” Dino said. After he double-bogeyed the par-4 No. 1, “I thought to myself, ‘What would happen if I shoot bad?’ I thought about it and it wouldn’t really be that bad if I didn’t shoot well. I thought to myself, ‘Why shoot bad? Let’s shoot good.’ I didn’t get mad.”

No, he got even with the course. He had birdies on Nos. 3, 6, 16 and 18. And his score was the third-best of the day.

A year ago, Dino led the Mustangs, who ended seventh as a team at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, finishing tied for 20th.

Sophomore Rhett Johnson, who topped the Mustangs after the first round with 76, ballooned a bit to 82 to finish at 158, which tied him for 27th place. Thomas Hicks, another sophomore, ended 84-85—169 for a tie for 42nd and Cole Reister, a junior, turned in 85-85—170 for 45th.

“Geez,” Hicks said, “I think the course was definitely brutal and a lot different than (Monday). Mario definitely played good; Rhett also played well. Cole and I really struggled and didn’t respect the course enough and didn’t shoot as well.

“I’m disappointed and frustrated, but happy to have made it out there as a team, which is good about high-school golf.”

Said Dino: “I’m disappointed, but I honestly needed to play better and as a team we could have grabbed first place this year, but, obviously, it didn’t happen. We were fifth. But, yeah, definitely, we’ll be back next year.”

Junior Micah Stangebye shot a brilliant 4-under, going 69-71, and binged on 10 birdies, six on the first day, to finish as medalist and lead Montrose to a second-consecutive team title. The Indians were 19-over as a team.

They are the two places Mullen hopes to secure next year with a young team maturing.

“Hopefully, next year, I can grab the top spot,” Dino said.

Koehler called it another strong season with the promise of better one in 2019 … just like from 2017 to 2018.

“The guys played well and never gave up,” he said. “Mario played really well, finishing seventh. That was awesome. We haven’t had a guy in top 10 for a long time.

“We won’t be graduating any seniors, so we should have a strong cast of returning players next year, so the future looks pretty bright and you neve know what’s going to be coming down the pike.”