Though this was the third national finals of the DCP, it was the first year a Coloradan qualified. In all, 80 golfers — 40 boys and 40 girls from across the U.S. and Canada — competed on Sunday at Augusta. The event was broken up into four age groups each for boys and girls, age 7-15.

Luke Trujillo, 15, of Colorado Springs finished sixth out of 10 players overall in the boys 14-15 age group with 15.5 points, 7.5 fewer than champion Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass. Trujillo ended up third in putting — thanks to draining his second putt — sixth in chipping, and tied for seventh in the drive. The Golf Channel showed one of Trujillo’s drives and both of his chips and putts on Sunday, including the one that he holed to close his day.

Arielle Keating, 15, of Colorado Springs finished sixth in the girls 14-15 division with 16.5 points, 10 behind champion Alyssa Montgomery of Knoxville, Tenn. Keating tied for third in the chip (her second chip finished a foot from the cup), and placed fifth in the putt and eighth in the drive. Golf Channel showed her stroke one of her putts on Sunday.

Caitlyn Chin, 8, of suburban Denver finished 10th in the girls 7-9 division with five points, leaving her 19 points back of champion Emerson Blair of West Point, Miss. Chin placed eighth in the drive, and 10th in both the chip and the putt. Golf Channel showed both of Chin’s putts on Sunday.

(The Coloradans — from left, Trujillo, Chin and Keating — are pictured above.)

After competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt on Sunday, Trujillo, Keating and Chin — and their families — will have a chance to watch a Masters practice round Monday at Augusta National.

Among those on hand for Sunday’s DCP national finals were Masters champions Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Nick Faldo, Ben Crenshaw and Mark O’Meara, other PGA Tour players Jason Day, Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar, new USGA president Diana Murphy, PGA of America president Derek Sprague, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and U.S. Amateur and NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau. On Saturday on the eve of the event, the DCP finalists rubbed elbows with entertainers Justin Timberlake and Niall Horan, and PGA Tour player Justin Rose.

“This is special,” Watson said Sunday on Golf Channel. “It jerks at my heart a lot, watching this. There are other things these kids are learning (besides displaying their skills). They’re learning etiquette, dedication, and the drive (necessary to achieve at a high level).”

Only six states were better represented in the DCP national finals this spring than Colorado — California (8 finalists), Texas (7), Ohio (5), and New York, Illinois and Michigan (4 each).

The Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is a joint initiative of the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America designed to help grow the game.

Each competitor is scored based on the longest of two drives (provided it’s inbounds), and the cumulative proximity to the hole of two chips and of two putts from different distances. The driving and chipping were held at Augusta National’s tournament practice area, with the putting set for ANGC’s 18th green. Golfers competed within eight groups based on gender and age, with the kids with the highest combined scores in driving, chipping and putting winning the overall titles.

All 80 of the finalists who vied at Augusta National on Sunday qualified by virtue of advancing through local, sub-regional and regional competitions.

Trujillo, Keating and Chin all took the same sub-regional and regional paths to the finals, advancing at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora and Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, Calif., respectively. Each won his or her divisions at the regionals at Torrey Pines.

For all the results of Sunday’s Drive, Chip and Putt national finals, CLICK HERE.

Registration for the 2016-17 Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is open. The website can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.  

While the equivalent day for golf was in November — when many Colorado players formalized their college plans — there have been numerous additional commitments in recent months, so it’s worth an update.

At least 25 Colorado high school players have now committed to play golf in college. That includes at least 11 at the NCAA Division I level, including Regis Jesuit’s Andrew McCormick (pictured), who recently noted on Twitter that he was headed to Creighton. Last year, McCormick was runner-up in the CGA Junior Match Play and tied for third in the 5A state high school meet while his school claimed the team title.

Here’s a rundown of the Class of 2016 Coloradans who have committed to play college golf beginning in the fall (* — indicates NCAA Division I programs):

Boys
Tim Amundson (Valor Christian HS) — Colorado School of Mines
Austin Burgess (Coronado HS) — CSU-Pueblo
Troy Dangler (Fruita Monument HS) — Denver*
Alex Farrell (Skyline HS) — Milligan in Tennessee
Chase Federico (Pueblo South HS) — CSU-Pueblo
Reese Leiker (Heritage HS) — St. Gregory’s in Oklahoma
Andrew McCormick (Regis Jesuit HS) — Creighton in Nebraska*
AJ Ott (Fort Collins HS) — Colorado State*
Hunter Paugh (Fort Collins HS) — South Dakota*
Isaac Petersilie (Coronado HS) — Denver*
Coby Welch (Valor Christian HS) — Northern Colorado*
Ryan Zetwick (Rock Canyon HS) — Hillsdale College in Michigan

Girls
Delaney Benson (Heritage HS) — Creighton in Nebraska*
Delaney Elliott (Monarch HS) — Montana State*
Kendra George (Heritage HS) — Texas A&M Commerce
Kacey Godwin (Colorado Academy) — Whitman in Washington
Jennifer Hankins (Legacy HS) — Metro State of Denver
Madeline Kern (Broomfield HS) — Regis University
Madison McCambridge (Fairview HS) — Wisconsin-Stout
Hannah More (Mullen HS) — Colorado Mesa
Kiselya Plewe (Montezuma-Cortez HS) — Weber State in Utah*
Morgan Sahm (Grandview HS) — Northern Colorado*
Erin Sargent (Silver Creek HS) — Wyoming*
Haley Smith (Fountain-Fort Carson HS) — Central Christian in Kansas
Mary Weinstein (Regis Jesuit HS) — Regis University