A Sully Buttes kid has won a state boys golf championship for the first time since 1977. Gavin Colson, a sophomore for the Chargers, finished the ‘B’ boys state tournament on Tuesday with a score of six-over-par. Chet Peterson of Ipswich and Taylor Kriech of Colman-Egan both tied for second at +8 for the event.
Colson shot 75 in both rounds at the Brookings Country Club. He mentioned that this is something he’s only imagined.
“It’s unbeilevalbe. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of, so it’s pretty great,” exclaimed Colson. “Getting third last year just proved that I could win it, so here I am.”
The Onida area is no stranger to elite golf success. Tom and Curt Byrum, for example, are brothers from Sully Buttes who went on to have pro careers on the PGA Tour.
“It’s an honor,” said Colson. “The Byrum’s are awesome, so I’m glad I can join them.
Day one was a beautiful day of golf with little wind and sunny conditions. But, on day two, the conditions worsened as the day went on. Rain came into the area and the wind picked up, which made it tougher on the players.
“To start it was alright, but back nine it got rough,” explained Colson. “Really windy, a lot of rain, but we fought through it, and here we are.”
Colson did bogey the 16th and 17th holes on Tuesday, but he had enough of a lead to close it out. He would have needed to double bogey the 18th hole to make it a three-way tie, but since he putted in for par, he closed it out with the win.
“I knew coming down the stretch that I had a little bit of a cushion. I figured I’d have a little more than that,” he said. “It was nerve racking, of course, but we fought through it and it worked out.”
The last team title for Sully Buttes was in 2010, but it’s been much longer than that since an Onida kid has won the individual title. The last Sully Buttes boy to win a state championship was Scott Hofer in 1977.
“We needed it. We needed it for the golf program, so it’s awesome,” stated Colson. “I mean, you can’t beat that feeling as far as playing golf for that feeling right there.”
Having just completed his sophomore year of high school, Colson will have two more years of golf to try and replicate this season's success.
