In the second season for three separate classifications, all three events are set for Monday and Tuesday (May 21-22), with the 5A tournament at Boulder Country Club, 4A at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs, and 3A at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo.

Here are some things worth noting for next week:

— Last year, Hailey Schalk of Holy Family became the first freshman to win a Colorado girls state high school individual title since Ashley Tait managed the feat in 2002 en route to a record-tying three state prep championships.

Schalk, the 2017 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Girls Player of the Year, has won every high school tournament in which she’s competed so far in her career. She’ll put that record on the line at the 3A meet in Pueblo.

— This year will mark the first time since 2007 that all of the individual state champions will be back to defend their titles. That includes Grandview junior Amy Chitkoksoong (5A), Loveland junior Lauren Lehigh (4A) and Holy Family sophomore Schalk (3A). Lehigh has verbally committed to play her college golf at the University of New Mexico.

— Fairview senior Kelsey Webster, who will play golf for the University of Colorado beginning in the fall, will compete in her final state tournament on her home course, Boulder Country Club. Webster, who won the 5A Central Regional with a 3-under-par 69 at South Suburban earlier this month, finished ninth at state last year. Webster’s 69 was one of two scores in the 60s at the regional state qualifying tournaments. Caroline Jordaan of Colorado Academy, who tied for third in last year’s 3A state meet, fired a regional-best 67 at the 3A Region 2 tournament at CommonGround this month. Webster shot a 66 in a March tournament at Harmony Club.

— Two players who teamed up in the recent U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship — and advanced to the match play round of 32 — will compete against one another in the 3A tournament in Pueblo. That would be Schalk and Charlotte Hillary of Kent Denver, both sophomores who finished 1-2 in last year’s 3A meet.

Both players won regional tournaments, and earlier this week Hillary finished seventh out of 48 players in the 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open Qualifying at The Ranch Country Club.

— Two other regional champions will similarly square off in the 5A tournament in Boulder after meeting in last year’s Colorado Junior Match Play final. Eaglecrest freshman Emma Bryant defeated Chitkoksoong 1 up in that match to claim the title.

— In Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Tour events held so far this spring, girls champions have included Chitkoksoong (twice) and Marie Jordaan of Colorado Academy. Chitkoksoong defeated Jenna Chun of Highlands Ranch in a 5A playoff last year and was runner-up at the state tournament as a freshman. Chun will play her college golf at the University of Northern Colorado beginning in the fall.

— Speaking of Colorado Academy, it’s won four state team titles since 2007, including last year’s 3A crown. CA and 4A Windsor posted the lowest team scores at regionals this month, 227. In 5A, Ralston Valley will defend its title after winning a girls golf state championship last year for the first time. Also back to defend after winning its first girls golf state title last year is Loveland in 4A.

For Monday’s state tournament tee times, CLICK HERE.

Here are the teams and players that won regional tournaments earlier this month to qualify for state:

5A Northern Regional at Collindale GC — Team: Fossil Ridge 242; Individual: Emma Bryant, Eaglecrest, 75.

5A Southern Regional at Colorado Springs CC — Team: Grandview 240; Individual: Amy Chitkoksoong, Grandview, and Morgan Ryan, Grandview, 79.

5A Central Regional at South Suburban GC — Team: Highlands Ranch 236; Individual: Kelsey Webster, Fairview, 69.

5A Western Regional at Fox Hollow GC — Team: Cherry Creek 229; Individual: Brooke Kramer, Cherokee Trail, 73.

4A Region 1 at Garden of the Gods Club — Team: Coronado 254; Individual: Zoey Rodriguez, Pueblo South, and Maxine Choi, Cheyenne Mountain, 78.

4A Region 2 at Eisenhower GC’s Silver Course — Team: Valor Christian 277; Individual: Isabell Deak, Air Academy, 84.

4A Region 3 at Pelican Lakes GC — Team: Windsor 227; Individual: Jessica Zapf, Windsor, and Kinsey Smith, Windsor, 74.

4A Region 4 at Highland Hills GC — Team: Loveland 254; Individual: Lauren Lehigh, Loveland, 74.

3A Region 1 at Hollydot GC — Team: The Classical Academy 271; Individual: Hailey Schalk, Holy Family, 70.

3A Region 2 at CommonGround GC — Team: Colorado Academy 227; Individual: Caroline Jordaan, Colorado Academy, 67.

3A Region 3 at Olde Course at Loveland — Team: Jefferson Academy 240; Individual: Charlotte Hillary, Kent Denver, 70.

3A Region 4 at Rifle Creek GC — Team: Rifle 242; Individual: Masi Smith, Rifle, 72.
 

Most notably, for the first time, Colorado will hold three state tourneys for girls golf, with the 3A classification being added to the existing 5A and 4A. From 1990 through 2000, there was just one girls state meet, then from 2001 through ’16 there were two.

In addition, for the second straight year, no former individual state high school champions are in the fields for the state tourneys. That’s saying something considering that from 2007 through ’15, there had always been at least one former champ competing. Both of last year’s state winners, Mary Weinstein (5A) and Erin Sargent (4A) are now playing college golf, at Regis University and Wyoming, respectively.

And this year, one of the top players in any of the three state tournament fields is a freshman. Hailey Schalk of Holy Family will be competing in the 3A meet at The Broadlands Golf Course, which happens to be less than a mile from her high school. At age 14 last year, Schalk won the girls division of one of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors, the Colorado Junior Match Play. To get into next week’s 3A state tournament, she won the 3A Region 3 title with a score of 70 at Highland Meadows Golf Course. She’s ranked No. 245 in the world among female junior players, according to Junior Golf Scoreboard.

All three 36-hole girls state tournaments will take place Monday and Tuesday (May 22-23). The 5A meet is set for The Club at Rolling Hills in Golden, the 4A at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie (where Schalk’s dad, Matt, is the PGA general manager; he’s also Holy Family’s coach), and the 3A at The Broadlands.

Each field will feature about 84 players, with both team and individual competition on tap. Schools with three or four golfers who qualified for state will play as a team, with their best three scores counting each day toward the team total.

Here are previews of each state tournament:

— 5A at Rolling Hills: Two top-five finishers from the 2016 state tournament will be back, runner-up Amy Chitkoksoong of Grandview, the 2015 Colorado Junior Match Play girls champion, and University of Wyoming-bound Jordan Remley of Ralston Valley, who placed fifth at state in 2016.

Other likely contenders include Jaclyn Murray of Regis Jesuit, the 5A Central Regional co-champion who is looking for her third top-10 showing at state, and fellow 2016 top-10 finishers Julia Baroth of Denver East and Leigha Devine of Fossil Ridge. Alexis Chan of Rock Canyon placed third in 2015 and 13th last year.

Kelsey Webster of Fairview, the 5A Northern Regional champion, should also be in the mix. The junior, the JGAC’s most improved girls player in 2016, recently won an AJGA tournament in Wisconsin.

Grandview will defend its 5A team title, with 2014 and ’15 champ Regis Jesuit also a contender to add another victory.

— 4A at Colorado National: Several of the top returning finishers from the 2016 4A tournament are now competing in the 3A ranks, but a couple of golfers who placed in the top 10 last year are back in the same classification. Sydney Prey of Golden tied for seventh at state in 2016, while Kellsey Sample of Palmer Ridge was 10th.

Loveland teammates Lauren Lehigh and Aili Bundy figure to be contenders. Lehigh finished ninth in 5A state last year and Bundy claimed the 2017 4A Region 4 title with a 74 at Murphy Creek. The lowest regional-winning score in 4A came from Pine Creek’s Elly Carlson, who carded a 71 at the Country Club of Colorado.

Colorado Academy, the team champion in 4A in 2016, is now in the 3A ranks, but runner-up Cheyenne Mountain remains in 4A. Loveland, the 4A Region 4 champion who competed in 5A last year, could be tough to beat.

— 3A at The Broadlands: Even though this classification is made up of the smallest schools, it boasts plenty of high-quality players. Besides Holy Family’s Hailey Schalk, there’s 2016 JGAC Junior Tour Championship winner Charlotte Hillary of Kent Denver, last year’s 4A runner-up Caroline Jordaan of Colorado Academy and three other 4A top-10 finishers last year: Rifle teammates Elly Walters and Masi Smith, and Kent Denver’s Marin Halvorsen.

Schalk, Jordaan and Smith won 2017 regional titles. But Sarah Hwang of St. Mary’s set the standard in the regional tournaments — regardless of classification — with her 4-under-par 68 at Spring Valley Golf Club.

Colorado Academy, the 4A state champ last year, Holy Family and Kent Denver all should be in the mix for the 3A team title, along with Rifle.

For Monday tee times for the state tournaments, CLICK HERE.

Here are the team and individual champions from the recent regional state-qualifying tournaments:

5A Central Regional May 8 at (Denver) City Park GC — Team: Cherry Creek +15; Individual: Jaclyn Murray, Regis, and Amisha Singh, Smoky Hill, 72.

5A Northern Regional May 8 at Aurora Hills GC — Team: Fossil Ridge +31; Individual: Kelsey Webster, Fairview, 73.

5A Western Regional May 8 at Fox Hollow GC — Team: Ralston Valley +25; Individual: Jordan Remley, Ralston Valley, 74.

5A Southern Regional May 8 at Meadow Hills GC — Team: Grandview +37; Individual: Jenna Chun, Highlands Ranch, 76.

4A Region 1 May 8 at CC of Colorado — Team: Pine Creek +47; Individual: Elly Carlson, Pine Creek, 71.

4A Region 2 May 9 at Eisenhower GC Silver Course — Team: Palmer Ridge +73; Individual: Isabell Deak, Air Academy 78.

4A Region 3 May 11 at Indian Tree GC — Team: Windsor +39; Individual: Jessica Zapf, Windsor, 77.

4A Region 4 May 5 at Murphy Creek GC — Team: Loveland +19; Individual: Aili Bundy, Loveland, 74.

3A Region 1 May 9 at Hollydot — Team: Pueblo County +65; Individual: Jole Carrica, Swink, 86.

3A Region 2 May 8 at Spring Valley GC — Team: Kent Denver +23; Individual: Sarah Hwang, St. Mary’s, 68.

3A Region 3 May 8 at Highlands Meadows GC — Team: Holy Family +17; Individual: Hailey Schalk, Holy Family, 70.

3A Region 4 May 8 at Battlement Mesa GC — Team: Colorado Academy +26; Individual: Caroline Jordaan, Colorado Academy, and Masi Smith, Rifle, 79.