Pederson, Tomlin play at state golf tournament

The Gunnison High School girls golf team finished up their season at the Colorado 2A State Championship tournament earlier this week.

The tournament was held over the course of two days at Lone Tree Golf Club in Lone Tree. The girls played two 18-hole rounds, the first on Monday, May 18, and the second on Tuesday, May 19.

The Cowboys had two girls competing in the tournament, seniors Faith Pederson and Aiden Tomlin.

The tournament started on Monday. Head coach Kevin Mickelson called the conditions the “nastiest golf weather” he’d ever seen. It was raining nonstop all day, there was wind and the temperatures sat around 40 degrees all day.

“I've stayed warmer in a goose blind in Nebraska in January than I did that day,” said Mickelson. “There was standing water in the fairways, standing water on the greens at times. You could take relief from it, but the traps were full of water.”

The fallout from the less-than-ideal conditions was six girls having to withdraw from the tournament because they lost feeling in their hands, their feet or both. Unfortunately for Gunnison, Tomlin was one of those six girls. 

Mickelson emphasized that they tried everything, including hunting gloves and hand warmers, but it wasn’t enough. Tomlin lost the feeling in her hands and had decided with the help of her parents and coach that she had to withdraw.

Pederson was able to finish the round, but the weather led to her shooting a 97, one of her highest scores of the year. 

The weather cleared up on Tuesday ahead of the second round of the tournament. Due to the saturation of the fairways, the girls were able to play lift, clean and place on Tuesday as well.

Pederson took advantage of the nicer conditions and shot an 83 Tuesday, good enough for a 14th placed finish in the tournament.

Pederson opened her round with a 37 on the front nine and was even through 11 holes. She had a couple hiccups on the back nine, but was still able to gut out a top 15 finish in the tournament.

“We want to save our best for last and she certainly did that in her final high school golf tournament,” said Mickelson. “So [I] couldn't be more happy for her because she works hard and she deserves every bit of success that she gets.”

Now that the season has come to an end, Mickelson emphasized how proud he was of the way the girls showed steady improvement throughout the year and continued to play their best golf deeper into the season.

Next year, a large core of the team will be seniors. Mickelson’s goal for next year’s team is to qualify for the state tournament as a team.

“There's people that play golf and then there are golfers,” said Mickelson. “And I think we need to transform a little bit into being golfers before next. But the future is bright and it's exciting for GHS girls golf.”