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Glenwood’s Braklow is bound for state

Jeff CaspersenPost Independent StaffGlenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Glenwood Springs golfer Michael Braklow chips onto the No. 4 green at the Haymaker golf course in Steamboat Springs Tuesday afternoon. Braklow was hoping for a top finish at the regional tournament, and a shot at the upcoming state tournament.
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colorado – Michael Braklow worked all summer to polish his golf game.On Tuesday, the Glenwood Springs High School senior cashed in on all the time he spent on the links. Carding a 6-over-par 78 in Tuesday’s Western Regional boys golf tournament at Haymaker Golf Course in Steamboat Springs, Braklow punched his ticket to the 4A state meet for the first time.”This was my goal,” said Braklow, whose score landed him in a six-way tie for fifth place. “It’s a really good feeling. I’m really happy. It took four years and I’m finally there.”Braklow will be the lone Demon at the Oct. 5-6 Class 4A state meet at Highlands Ranch Golf Club. He’s the first Demon to qualify for state since Jason Whiting did it back in 2006.Braklow had to brave Tuesday’s cold to do it. Scores were inflated across the board thanks to the inclement weather.”I think that’s by far his best round,” Glenwood Springs coach Bryan Whiting said by phone on Tuesday. “Maybe not the best round he’s ever shot, but the best round he’s shot in a tournament and under the adverse conditions.”A summer devoted to golf did the trick.”I played in tournaments in Denver every week and I took lessons like once a week,” Braklow said. “It paid off.”Braklow’s teammate, Kevin Flohr, shot an 85 on Tuesday. The highest score to earn a spot at state in Class 4A was an 80. The top team and the next nine individuals not on that team qualified for state.

Despite having a banged-up finger, Rifle senior Klayton Costanzo managed an 83 at Steamboat on Tuesday. It wasn’t quite good enough to land him a trip to the 4A state meet, though.”He had a great season, a wonderful year,” Bears coach Mark Fergen said. “He just didn’t make it with the weather and everything.”Freshman Danny Bartels shot an 85 for Rifle.

Roaring Fork’s Arick Zeigel had to sweat out a playoff to punch his ticket to the 3A state meet.Zeigel’s regulation 90 at Tuesday’s 3A Western Regional, also at Haymaker, put him in a three-way playoff for the final two spots. And the Ram senior delivered.”He’s pretty excited,” Roaring Fork coach Larry Williams said. “He struggled a bit today, especially on the greens, but he came through in that playoff. He showed a lot of heart and intestinal fortitude.”Joining Zeigel at the Oct. 5-6 Class 3A state meet at Cougar Canyon Golf Course in Trinidad will be Grand Valley’s Dylan Walters, whose 89 got the job done.In Class 3A, the top team and the next eight individuals not on that team qualify for state.jcaspersen@postindependent.com


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