Niwot girls wrap up season at 2021 Class 4A state golf championships

The Niwot girls golf team didn't win any titles at the 2021 Class 4A state championships, but after a resilient performance during the grueling tournament at Common Ground golf course in Aurora, head coach Ed Weaver sees a bright future ahead for the youthful squad.

"It's a tough two days," he said after his team's 10th-place finish in the two-day event, held June 21-22. "It's long, emotional, and there are highs and lows. But we had a lot of fun, and the learning that happened, especially for Mina and Kate, is just off the charts."

The Cougars were led by senior Halie Ostrom, making her final appearance as a Cougar. The fourth-year varsity golfer finished with a combined 170 (+26) over two rounds, which was good for 17th place overall in the 85-player field, her highest finish in three prior state appearances. Afterwards, she had mixed emotions about ending her high school golf career.

"I'm really happy about it being my last one, because I'm really tired of it," she said. "I'm also kind of sad because I feel like next year it would have been a lot of fun to play again."

Ostrom's best round was on Monday, when temperatures were in the low- to mid-70s. She overcame a shaky start on the first five holes, and behind good drives and chipping, she posted an 82 (+10), putting her in 11th place in the individual standings.

Unfortunately, the opposite happened for Ostrom on day two, as she succumbed to a case of nerves. "The girls that I played with were really, really good, so I get intimidated by that," she said. Two pars on the opening holes soon gave way to a string of bogeys and double-bogeys, putting her at 44 (+8) before making the turn. It was much the same on the back nine, which she ended with an identical 44, for a final of 88 (+16). Afterwards, she said the benign-looking course, formerly a part of Lowry Air Force base, had been more demanding than it seemed at first glance.

"The second shot was the most challenging part," she said. "Especially on par fours with all the sand that's in the way of the greens. So if you hit right or left, then you're in the sand. So it was very stressful."

Fast greens were the problem on Tuesday for Niwot's number two golfer, junior Sydney Rothstein, who followed up her 84 (+12) on day one with a 91 (+19), pushing her out of the top-20 into 23rd place overall. But an even bigger problem than her unreliable short game, she said, was giving into fears about the fast greens and summer temperatures.

"Today was probably one of those days when I was my own worst enemy. I expected my score to just be a little bit higher today, because of the heat, because it's day two, because I was going to be a little bit tired. But it shouldn't have been this much worse, and I attribute that to the mentality part of it."

Rothstein is one of the players that will be returning to the squad in 2022, along with freshman Mina O'Dell and sophomore Kate Jones, who also competed at Common Ground for the Cougars, finishing 81st and 83rd, respectively. However, each improved by more than 15 strokes from day one to day two, a result that heartened Weaver.

"The reality is that Kate and Mina basically had never played a golf tournament until they started this season," he said. "So they both made the state tournament, and the experience they got yesterday and today is invaluable. They don't know how much they learned about themselves."

Weaver expects all of that learning to pay off in 2022, when Rothstein is a senior, and his three top players will be coming into the season as battle-hardened veterans.

"It's really exciting," he said. "They don't even know what they learned yet. Even Sydney learned some important things... I don't know how you get that experience other than just playing in this type of situation."