Rangers dominant in season opener

Monument • A last-minute change to the Colorado Springs Metro League boys golf schedule provided the motivation the host Rangers needed to win the season-opening Accu-Shot Tournament at King's Deer Golf Club on Wednesday.

"We wanted to let everyone know that Lewis-Palmer is going to contend for state this year and we wanted to take Cheyenne Mountain down a notch," said Ryan Kellerhouse, who dropped to second place after losing a scorecard tiebreaker to Pine Creek's Mike Vogelsong.

Kellerhouse's 1-under-par 70 off the course's blue tees (6,167 yards) led a foursome that shot 74 or better. Danny Boylen placed sixth with a 72 followed by teammate Alex Hiser (73) at seventh and Michael Cole (74), who tied for 10th.

The team score of 215 strokes outdistanced runner-up Pine Creek (225) and third-place newcomer Palmer Ridge (226). The freshmen and sophomoresonly squad was paced by home-schoolers Max and Garrett Cologne with 74s. It was a huge day for golf in Monument when you consider those golfers might have been on the Lewis-Palmer junior varsity if the new school hadn't opened.

"Every coach should have that problem," Rangers coach Ed Ryan said. "Palmer Ridge's first showing was tremendous."

The Lewis-Palmer golfers were miffed because the five Metro League stops were changed at last week's coaches meeting. Instead of opening league play with the Accu-Shot, the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational on Sept. 29 was added as the final league stop. League play begins Tuesday with the Terror Invitational at the Patty Jewett Golf Course. The other league stops are the Liberty Invitational, Aug. 25; the Sand Creek Invitational, Sept. 9; and the Coronado Cougar Classic on Sept. 25.

"That vote motivated some of the kids," Ryan said. "They know the league is important to us and they wanted to open league play on their home course. I'm not surprised they did well. We have four who average within two, three strokes."

Pine Creek's Vogelsong relied on his summer practice to avoid any three-putts.

"I used the time in between lightning delays to work on my putting," he said. "This was a good start."

Doherty junior Marcus Anderson placed third with a 71 while Coronado's Tyler Hogg was fourth with a 72. Cheyenne Mountain finished 10th as a team with most of its top golfers not playing.

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Contact the writer: 636-0260 or joseph.paisley@gazette.com