All your favorite teams and sources in one place

Build your feed

Your Teams.
All Sources.

Build your feed

© 2024 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC.

No results found.
‘Spectacular’ finish makes Valor Christian state champ
The Valor Christian High School boys golf team won the CHSAA Class 5A boys golf team state title by two strokes Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020 in Golden, Colo. (Courtesy: @valorsportsnet/Twitter)

‘Spectacular’ finish makes Valor Christian state champ

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (BVM) — The moment a team secures a state championship is always special. But the culminating point of Valor Christian’s state title victory Tuesday was unlike anything else Eagles head coach Justen Byler has experienced on a golf course.

Senior Lucas Schulte sank a 7-foot putt to complete an eagle on the par-5, 18th hole — the final hole of the two-day tournament — to not only clinch an individual state title, but also give his team the strokes necessary to narrowly claim the CHSAA Class 5A team title at the Club at Rolling Hills in Golden, Colo.

“I’ve been around high school sports for 25 years and I’ve never experienced or witnessed a finish quite that spectacular,” Byler said. “Even when Lucas stood over the putt I’m not sure he completely understood what the situation was. …  It was a special moment for a really special young man.”

The clutch putt gave the Eagles (452) a two-stroke victory over runner-up Arapahoe (454) and their sixth state title in program history and first since winning three consecutive championships from 2013-2015. Valor finished eighth at state a year ago after taking first place in the competitive Jeffco (Jefferson County) League. The Eagles placed fourth in the league this year, which made their run to a state title somewhat surprising.

“I think even people in this area were surprised by our opportunity to compete at the top even after Day 1 and said, ‘Hey, where did Valor come from?,’’ Byler said. “In this particular situation we played in a league where the top five teams were actually the top nine teams statistically in the state with their top five guys, so we felt like we were playing state championship tournaments virtually every week because we had such a quality league.” 

Byler believes last year’s team was just as talented if not more talented from top to bottom, but this year’s squad came together and played its best at the right time while being completely bought into the team concept, which is not always easy to do in an individual sport like golf.

“Starting at the beginning of last year a team culture concept really started to develop, almost like a Ryder Cup-type situation where they understood that they were playing for something a little bigger than themselves… playing for each other and kind of putting aside the egos in a pretty individual sport,” Byler said. “Going into this year we really felt like we had an opportunity but we knew we were in a really tough league and there’s a lot of tough golf in our state. We weren’t sure how it would turn out.”

While Schulte led the way for Valor with a two-day total of 146 (74-72) to edge both second-place finishers Trey Kirchern (Ralston Valley) and Ryan Occhionero (Regis Jesuit) by one stroke, the Eagles’ other three top golfers also put together strong tourneys to help earn the title. Sophomore Colin Young finished 13th overall individually with a two-day score of 153 (75-78) while junior Jack Armstrong finished 17th with a 155 (81-74) and senior Langdon Bradley’s 158  (79-79) placed him 29th.

“It took a lot of strokes from a lot of different people over two days this year,” Byler said. “It makes it extra special when you’ve got guys that believe in one another and will go out and compete for one another. … I’m a firm believer in team sports and the values that they provide and the lifelong relationships that are a result of that. This will bind them for the rest of their lives, which makes it awfully special.”