'Stangs turn in sound opening day

 

AURORA -- For openers, Mullen boys couldn’t complain.

Actually, they were pretty happy.

And they should have been.

The Mustangs grabbed third place as a team on Thursday in a Centennial League match to start the 2020 season at Meadow Hills Golf Course and senior Rhett Johnson nearly parred his round to finish in a tie for third.

“Yes,” Mustangs head coach Jerry Koehler said when asked if he was pleased. “We had some good scores, it’s a tough course and it’s hot.”

Indeed, scorching sun and heat in the high 90s made it challenging, but, as Koehler pointed out, the Mustangs “also had two players birdie No. 18 to break 80.”

All told, all five players cracked the 80 barrier. Johnson shot 71, Mario Dino 76, Andrew Brady 78, and Ryan Brady and Thomas O’Sullivan 79.

And all Mullen personnel sported masks when necessary and practiced social distancing.

“A good day for us to get started,” Koehler said.

Johnson, a senior, was consistent – he had 15 pars, two bogeys and a birdie. Most important, he had a big day driving the ball and avoiding the tree-lined fairways that can seem like a forest.

“I really only had two bad shots,” Johnson said. “It hurt me on one hole, but there wasn’t a lot to complain about today. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with 1-over. This has always been my toughest course for four years. It’s narrow.”

Dino, along with Johnson, are the Mustangs’ top two returnees. He said his 76, including hitting behind the maintenance shed at the No. 5 green for a double-bogey 6, was frustrating.

“And just unlucky on the front nine,” he said in making the turn at 4-over 39. “But it’s so good to get back to high-school golf.”

Junior Andrew Brady went 40-38, and Ryan Brady, a freshman, and O’Sullivan, a senior, stayed in the 70s in their first prep matches, solid fetes. The younger Brady said he enjoyed the jump to schoolboy play, including the team aspect, and O’Sullivan, on the team because soccer was postponed to the new Season C because of the coronavirus (COVIDS-19), offered that he probably should have been playing this game since he enrolled at Mullen.

Teamwise, the Mustangs totaled 304, 24 over par. The winner was Cherry Creek at 2-over 282. Arapahoe (296) was runner-up. After Mullen, it was Grandview (313), Cherokee Trail (325), Eaglecrest (359) and Smoky Hill (380)., 

Individually, Cherry Creek also owned it with senior Sam Schouten firing a 2-under 68 and sophomore Charlie Flaxbeard second at 69.

Johnson, who went 36-35, tied with Arapahoe’s Grant Juergens.

“It was a strong showing for a first time,” Koehler said.

Next up for Mullen is League Match No. 2, Monday, Aug. 17, at South Suburban G.C. in Centennial, first tee shots at 11 a.m.