Wednesday marked the first day that high school golfers from Colorado — and elsewhere — who are part of the class of 2019 could formalize their choice of college golf programs by signing national letters of intent.

As is often the case, an impressive number of Coloradans will be playing college golf starting next fall. And plenty of those will be headed to NCAA Division I programs. And to take it yet another step, quite a few Coloradans will be joining DI teams that are among the best in the country.

In fact, between 2019 and 2020 graduates, nine golfers from the Centennial State have either verbally committed to — or have signed with — college programs currently ranked among the top 100 in the nation in Division I:

— Dillon Stewart (left) of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Boys Player of the Year in 2018, signed on Wednesday with defending NCAA Division I champion Oklahoma State, the No. 1-ranked men’s team in the nation. The Cowboys have now won 11 NCAA titles in men’s golf.

— Two other high school seniors, Jack Hughes of Aspen and former Grand Junction resident Canon Olkowski, will be joining the University of Colorado men’s program, which won two tournaments in the fall and is ranked 73rd in the country, according to Golfstat. Olkowski, who now resides in Las Vegas, is the younger brother of current Buff Trevor Olkowski.

— Dawson Holmes of Aspen will be playing his college golf at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, a program ranked 44th in the nation among DI teams.

— Caroline Jordaan (left) of Lakewood and Colorado Academy, long one of the top girls players in the state, is becoming a University of Denver golfer. The Pioneers are currently slotted No. 79 in the country by Golfweek.

— Lauren Lehigh of Loveland High School, the JGAC’s Girls Player of the Year this past season, is headed to the University of New Mexico, the No. 85 women’s program in the country as of the end of the fall season.

As for high school juniors who recently made verbal commitments to play college golf, they add to the trend:

— Hailey Schalk of Erie and Holy Family High School, the 2017 JGAC Girls POY who won the 3A state high school titles as both a freshman and a sophomore, plans to play at CU, which is ranked No. 36 in the nation by Golfweek. Schalk has been receiving college scholarship offers since early in her eighth-grade year. Her dad, Matt Schalk, is the PGA general manager and director of golf at Colorado National Golf Club, the home course for the CU men’s and women’s golf teams.

— Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village and Kent Denver, winner of two of the first three JGAC Tournament of Champions, has committed to Northwestern, the No. 15 women’s team in the nation, according to Golfstat.

— And Marie Jordaan of Lakewood, Caroline Jordaan’s younger sister, is headed to Santa Clara in California, which sits No. 95 in the country, according to Golfstat.

All told in just the Class of 2019, at least 10 Colorado residents and/or JGAC members have signed or will sign letters of intent for DI programs:

Besides the aformentioned six, there’s:

— Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora, who’s headed to the University of Northern Colorado.

— Morgan Ryan of Centennial and Jessica Zapf of Windsor will be teammates at the University of Wyoming.

— And TJ Shehee of Mead will play for the UNC men.

It isn’t often that a Coloradan signs a letter of intent to play golf for the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, but Stewart did just that on Wednesday afternoon.

“It means a lot with all the hard work I’ve put in through the years,” Stewart said recently. “Waking up early and going to play all day until the moon comes up (and) I’m still up there and have my flashlight on the range when I was little. I couldn’t get enough. It just shows that if you have a dream and you want to achieve it, you can put the work in and anything is possible.”

Signing a prestigious letter of intent on Wednesday caps a big year for Stewart, who will graduate from Fossil Ridge in December, though he won’t enroll in OSU until the fall semester. In 2018, he won the individual title in the boys Junior America’s Cup, which featured some of the top junior golfers from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico, and led Colorado to its first team title ever in that event. Earlier, Stewart became the first Colorado boy to win the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior — one of two AJGA titles he claimed in 2018. In the fall, he captured the 5A state high school individual championship and led Fossil Ridge to its first team title in boys golf. Stewart also shared medalist honors in qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur.

And now, Stewart is going to Stillwater, Okla., to play his college golf.

“It is a dream of mine,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to go there. When I was little I was a Rickie (Fowler) fan; that’s what sparked the whole idea. Being with that group of (top-level players) day in and day out as your family, you’re just going to get that much better. That’s what I’m really looking forward to. You’re practicing with some of the top players in the country and the world every day.”

Here are the Colorado residents and JGAC members who have signed letters of intent or have verbally committed to a college program:

CLASS OF 2019
Boys
— Brandon Bervig of Colorado Springs (Liberty HS) — University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
— Jonas Graham of Parker (Chaparral HS) — Colorado Mesa
— Peter Grossenbacher of Eaton (Eaton HS) — Colorado Mesa
— Dawson Holmes of Aspen (Aspen HS) — College of Charleston (S.C.)
— Jack Hughes of Aspen (Aspen HS) — University of Colorado
— Tyler Mulligan of Parker (Chaparral HS) — Oregon Tech
— Former Grand Junction resident Canon Olkowski, now of Las Vegas — University of Colorado
— Riley Rottschafer of Centennial (Arapahoe HS) — Fort Lewis
— TJ Shehee of Mead (Mead HS) — University of Northern Colorado
— Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins (Fossil Ridge HS) — Oklahoma State
— Jack Tickle (Arapahoe HS) — University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
— Jake Welch of Highlands Ranch (Valor Christian HS) — Colorado School of Mines
— Colter Zwieg of Aspen (Aspen HS) — Methodist University (N.C.)

Girls
— Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora (Grandview HS) — University of Northern Colorado
— Sydney Eye of Golden (Ralston Valley HS) — Metropolitan State University of Denver
— Caroline Jordaan of Lakewood (Colorado Academy) — University of Denver
— Brooke Kramer of Aurora (Cherokee Trail HS) — Chadron State (Neb.)
— Lauren Lehigh of Loveland (Loveland HS) — University of New Mexico
— Morgan Ryan of Centennial (Grandview HS) — University of Wyoming
— Kinsey Smith of Windsor (Windsor HS) — Chadron State (Neb.)
— Jessica Zapf of Windsor (Windsor HS) — University of Wyoming

Out-of-State Signees for Colorado-Based Schools
Boys
— Spencer Adam of San Diego — Air Force Academy
— Brady Arnett of Woodbury, Minn. — University of Denver
— Blake Danni of Cheyenne, Wyo. — Northern Colorado
— Logan Hensley of Casper, Wyo. — Northern Colorado
— Aidan Mann of Elmhurst, Ill. — Colorado Mesa
— Andrew Ni of Edinburgh, Scotland (junior from New Mexico Junior College) — CSU-Pueblo
— Jamie Roberts of Perth, Scotland — CSU-Pueblo
— Zachary Slayton of Austin, Texas — Colorado Christian

Girls
— Andrea Bergsdottir of Gothenburg, Sweden — Colorado State University
— Tomine Bjerkelo of Sandnes, Norway — Colorado State University
— Thea Bjekelo of Sandnes, Norway — Colorado State University
— Erika Danielsson of Finland — University of Denver
— Abbi Fleiner of Reno, Nev. — University of Northern Colorado
— Sophie Johnson of Telford, Shropshire, England — University of Colorado
— Anna Krekling of Oslo, Norway — University of Denver
— Mattie Millwee of Fresno, Calif. — CSU-Pueblo
— Gabby Minier of Goleta, Calif. — Colorado State University
— Rileigh Vojta of St Francis, Minn. — CSU-Pueblo
— Anna Zanusso of Venice, Italy — University of Denver

CLASS OF 2020 VERBAL COMMITMENTS
— Hailey Schalk of Erie (Holy Family HS) — University of Colorado
— Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village (Kent Denver HS) — Northwestern
— Marie Jordaan of Lakewood (Colorado Academy) — Santa Clara

(Note: This story will be updated as more signees/commitments are publicized. Please let us know additional signees by emailing golfjournal@coloradogolf.org) 

Canon Olkowski of Grand Junction rallied from an eight-stroke deficit going into the final round to win the boys tourney by one at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

And Hailey Schalk of Erie, the 2016 Colorado Junior Match Play champion, wasn’t seriously challenged in posting an eight-stroke victory in the girls competition. (The two winners are pictured.)

Olkowski, brother of 2016 JGAC Tour Championship winner Trevor Olkowski, rebounded from a first-round 77 to card a 1-over-par 72 on Sunday, giving him a two-day total of 7-over 149. Canon, 16, notched four birdies in round 2, offset by three bogeys and a double bogey.

Luke Trujillo of Colorado Springs, who led after an opening-round 69, tied for second at 150 following an 81 on Sunday. Particularly costly was a quadruple-bogey 7 on his 17th hole Sunday. Also sharing second place was University of Colorado-bound Cole Krantz of Windsor, who closed with a 71, the low score on Sunday.

In the girls tournament, the 15-year-old Schalk carded back-to-back rounds of 74 for a 6-over-par 148 total. On Sunday, she overcame a triple-bogey 8 with three birdies, and added three bogeys.

Lauren Lehigh of Loveland finished second at 156 after a second-round 77. Amisha Singh of Greenwood Village took third place at 157 after closing with an 80.

The tournament in Colorado Springs marked the beginning of the “spring points chase”. The top three boys and top three girls in the points standings after three spring Tour events will earn spots in the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior by Transamerica that’s being hosted by Walnut Creek Golf Preserve (the former Heritage at Westmoor) June 6-8.

For scores from this weekend’s JGAC Tour event, click on the following: BOYS, GIRLS.
 

JGAC Series Opener at Pueblo CC: Meanwhile, the first JGAC Series event of 2017 also concluded on Sunday — in this case at Pueblo Country Club.

The winners for the various age/gender divisions were: Mario Dino of Denver (boys 14-18), Katelyn Lehigh of Loveland (girls 14-18), Matai Naqica of Centennial (boys 11-13), Sofia Choi of Littleton (girls 11-13), Andre Dumonteil of Centennial and Kaden Devenport of Windsor (boys 6-10), and Ashleigh Wilson of Highlands Ranch (girls 6-10).

For all the scores from Pueblo Country Club, CLICK HERE.

In the girls 15-17 division, 2014 CWGA Junior Match Play champion Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora and Lauren Lehigh of Loveland fired 3-over-par 75s to sit atop the leaderboard.

After Wednesday’s second round, the top two finishers in each division will advance to the prestigious Junior World Championships, set for July 12-15 in the San Diego area.

Luke Travins of Colorado Springs and Easton Paxton of Riverton, Wyo., are tied for third place among the boys at 72, while Canon Olkowski’s older brother, Trevor, holds down fifth place at 73.

For all the boys scores, CLICK HERE.
 
For the girls, Arielle Keating of Colorado Springs, Caroline Jordaan of Cherry Hills Village and Jordan Remley of Lakewood sit four behind the leaders after carding rounds of 79.

For complete girls scores, CLICK HERE.

Junior World qualifiers for boys and girls in the 11-12 and 13-14 age divisions will be contested on Thursday at Broken Tee in Englewood.