There’s only one way to cap off an undefeated season, and Davis Bryant found out exactly how.

The Eaglecrest senior, who won every regular-season high school tournament in which he competed this season, then shared the regional title, fittingly finished things off with a victory in his final high school golf meet.

Bryant rallied from one behind going into Tuesday’s final round of the 5A tournament, pulling away on the back nine at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora for a two-stroke victory.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long, it hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” said Bryant, the 5A runner-up last year. “I’m so excited and so happy that I could finally get the job done.

“This is probably the best (win) of my career because you’re playing against the best kids in the state and all different age levels.”

Also winning state titles on Tuesday were Darren Edwards of Thompson Valley in Class 4A at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, and a second Davis, Davis Long of Peak to Peak, in the 3A tournament at Indian Peaks Golf Course, where Tuesday marked the only championship round after the course was saturated by rain on Monday. For more on those tournaments, see below.

At the 5A meet, Bryant parred the first 10 holes of Tuesday’s second round before making back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 and parring his last six holes for a bogey-free 2-under-par 69. The future Colorado State University golfer finished at 3-under 139, two better than Fossil Ridge junior Dillon Stewart and three ahead of Grand Junction junior Canon Olkowski. Stewart and Olkowski both closed with 72s on Tuesday.

The three players in the final group — Bryant, Olkowski and first-round leader Stewart — were tied overall after the front nine on Tuesday. But after Olkowski eagled No. 11 from 4 feet and Bryant and Stewart two-putted there for birdie, Bryant made a move with a 25-foot uphill birdie putt on No. 12 that had to travel over a large hump before falling in (pictured above).

“Once I made the birdie putt on 12, that was huge,” he said. “That gave me a little momentum.”

The birdie pushed Bryant into a share of the lead with Stewart (left), the player he beat to win the Colorado Junior PGA title this year. But Stewart three-putted for bogey on No. 13 to fall out of the lead, missed a 7-foot birdie attempt at No. 14, then bogeyed 15 and 16.

Meanwhile, Olkowski had a wild ride in the middle of the round — going birdie, bogey, eagle, bogey, birdie in consecutive holes starting at No. 9 — before likewise losing ground to Bryant late on the back nine.

As for Bryant, he was grinding out six straight pars down the stretch, including with a 7-footer on No. 15 and long two-putts on 14 and 17.

“Once I had a little lead, I wanted to make them to have to chase me with birdies, and I wanted to make as many pars as I could,” he said.

For Bryant, the win adds another chapter to an impressive 2017 season. He’s won both of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in which he’s competed and he’s finished ninth individually at the Junior America’s Cup, 14th at the national Junior PGA and made it to the round of 64 at the U.S. Junior Amateur.

“I’d probably compare it to Jordan Spieth’s 2015 season (in which the PGA Tour player won the first two major championships before placing fourth in the British Open and second in the PGA Championship) a little bit,” Bryant said. “I’ve played so consistently since the beginning of April. The lowest (tournament round) I shot was 65 and the highest was 77. That feels pretty good. I started out strong (with a 65 at Todd Creek in May) and I finished strong.”

On Tuesday, he relied on his experience from the 2016 state tournament and the national events in which he’s competed this year.

“I learned from the experience last year against Kyle (Pearson of Highlands Ranch) and was able to make some of the par putts and grind it out a little better than I did last year,” Bryant said. “It was an awesome last two days.

“I think the summertime helped too — playing in those hard (national and international) tournaments with hard fields. And playing harder golf courses helped as well. Your mistakes are magnified when you play at those golf courses, so if you’re able to miss in the right spots, you give yourself shots at par. All the past experience, I was able to use and put together today. It feels really, really good to get the job done.”

Stewart, one of Bryant’s teammates on the Colorado Junior America’s Cup team this year, certainly wanted the title on Tuesday, but takes some consolation in the fact that he’ll get another crack at it next year.

“It’s obviously disappointing to take second,” he said. “I didn’t really play my best. Davis finished with a 69 today — that’s solid golf that he played and that’s pretty impressive to do that coming from behind.

“But putting myself in that position … and I still have one more year, so if I’m in this position again I can learn from what I did this year and move forward.”

In the 5A team race, Regis Jesuit (left) won for the third straight season, for the seventh time in the last eight years, and for the ninth time overall, tying the record for Colorado boys golf, set last year by Kent Denver.

This year’s Regis players included Cal McCoy, Cameron Kirke, Drew Anderson and Walker Fuller, with all but Fuller being seniors. McCoy has verbally committed to the University of Denver golf team.

“It’s a joy,” Regis coach Craig Rogers said. “I’m really happy, but especially this year because the senior class was about as good as I’ve ever seen. I think they felt a little extra pressure to make sure they didn’t have a letdown their senior year. So I’m a little more relieved because I knew we had the talent, but it’s golf and you never know what’s going to happen and there’s some great teams out here. So to see them complete the journey was really nice.”

With a 16-over-par 442 total, Regis finished seven strokes ahead of Cherry Creek and eight in front of third-place Grand Junction and Arapahoe.

Class 4A at Raccoon Creek: Thompson Valley senior Darren Edwards pulled away in the final round for a three-stroke victory in the individual competition. Edwards shot back-to-back rounds of 73 for a 2-over-par 146 total.

Edwards, who finished fourth at state last year, was 2 over for his first eight holes on Tuesday, but then birdied three of his next four to take control. He finished with three birdies and four bogeys in the final round.

Despite bogeying his final two holes, Barrett Jones of Eagle Valley posted the best score of the tournament, a 1-under-par 71, to tie for second place at 5-over 149. He made four birdies on Tuesday.

Also at 149 was Bridger Tenney of Evergreen, who birdied three of his final eight holes to shoot 74 on Tuesday.

Defending champion Luke Trujillo of Discovery Canyon finished 16th at 159.

In the team competition, 2016 runner-up Montrose won its second state title, besting Evergreen by six and Valor Christian by nine. The Indians, also champions in 2003, posted a two-day total of 34-over-par 466.

Class 3A at Indian Peaks: With the 3A meet being more of a sprint as an 18-hole tournament, Peak to Peak claimed both the individual and team titles.

Individually, sophomore Davis Long edged defending champion Oliver Jack of Kent Denver and Walker Franklin of Prospect Ridge. Long birdied the 16th and 18th holes — the latter from 15 feet — to shoot 3-under-par 69. He finished the day with six birdies and three bogeys.

Jack, who eagled the par-4 seventh hole after driving the green, was 4 under par through 11 holes, but double bogeyed No. 12 and played his final six holes in even. Franklin bogeyed his final hole — marking his only bogey of the day — for a 70.

But Long’s work for the day wasn’t yet done. He and his Peak to Peak teammates tied defending 3A state champion Kent Denver for top team honors at 1-over-par 217, then went to a playoff to decide a champion. Peak to Peak prevailed, winning its second state title in three years, this one at the Pumas’ home course. Kent Denver had been seeking an unprecedented 10th boys state golf championship.
 

Class 5A Top Finishers
At Par-71 CommonGround GC in Aurora
TEAM
Regis Jesuit 217-225–442
Cherry Creek 221-228–449
Arapahoe 228-222–450
Grand Junction 226-224–450
Denver East 229-228–457
INDIVIDUAL
Davis Bryant, Eaglecrest 70-69–139
Dillon Stewart, Fossil Ridge 69-72–141
Canon Olkowski, Grand Junction 70-72–142
Cal McCoy, Regis Jesuit 70-74–144
Tommy Parker, Arapahoe, 72-72–144
Connor Jones Mountain Range 72-74–146
Freddie Gluck, Boulder 73-73–146
Sam Blackwood, Heritage 71-75–146
Ryder Heuston, Fairview 72-74–146
Supawich (Beam) Boonta, Cherokee Trail 74-72–146

For complete 5A results, CLICK HERE.
 

Class 4A Top Finishers
At Par-72 Raccoon Creek GC in Littleton
TEAM
Montrose 233-233–466
Evergreen 238-234–472
Valor Christian 234-241–475
Palmer Ridge 240-238–478
Thompson Valley 249-237–486
INDIVIDUAL
Darren Edwards, Thompson Valley 73-73–146
Barrett Jones, Eagle Valley 78-71–149
Bridger Tenney, Evergreen 75-74–149
Micah Stangebye, Montrose 76-76–152
Jacob Smith, Rifle 77-75–152
Tyler Severin, Roosevelt 73-79–152
Jake Welch, Valor Christian 73-80–153
Jordan Jennings, Montrose 75-78–153
Wes Weber, Mountain View 77-77–154
Nathan Dwyer, Thompson Valley 79-75–154

For complete 4A results, CLICK HERE.
 

Class 3A Top Finishers
At Par-72 Indian Peaks GC in Lafayette
Note: Day 1 was rained out. Tournament was reduced to 18 holes.
TEAM
Peak to Peak 217 (won playoff)
Kent Denver 217
Aspen 224
Eaton 234
Colorado Academy 236

INDIVIDUAL
Davis Long, Peak to Peak 69
Oliver Jack, Kent Denver 70
Walker Franklin, Prospect Ridge 70
Thomas Messner, Coloradao Academy 73
Ian Thorpe, Peak to Peak 73
Dominic Lanese IV, Aspen 73
Peter Grossenbacher, Eaton 73
Jackson Klutznick, Kent Denver 73
Dawson Holmes, Aspen 73
Cris Rudosky, Montezuma Cortez 73
Billy Howenstein, Dawson 73

For complete 3A results, CLICK HERE.
 

That was in 2005 — when there were just two classifications in Colorado boys golf, instead of the current three — and Green Valley Ranch hosted the 5A meet and Wellshire the 4A.

A dozen years later, all three state tournaments next week — Monday and Tuesday specifically — will be based at public courses in the Denver area. The 5A championship will be at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, the 4A at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, and the 3A at Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette.

Suffice it to say that’s quite a change from last year, when the 5A meet was conducted in Grand Junction, the 4A in Carbondale and the 3A in Aurora.

Here’s a quick look at what to expect from each of next week’s 36-hole state tournaments:

— 5A at CommonGround: Based on how 2017 has gone so far, senior Davis Bryant of Eaglecrest should be the player to beat at CommonGround. The future Colorado State University golfer has won both of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in which he’s competed this year. In national/international events, he advanced to the match play round of 64 at the U.S. Junior Amateur and finished 14th at the Boys Junior PGA Championship and ninth individually in the Junior America’s Cup.

Bryant is the top returning player from last year’s 5A state tournament as he placed second to then-senior Kyle Pearson of Highlands Ranch.

In all, five top-10 finishers from last year’s state meet are back: Bryant; Cal McCoy and Drew Anderson of Regis Jesuit (tied for sixth in 2016), Kailer Dundiks of Denver East (ninth) and Josh Caridi of Fossil Ridge (ninth). McCoy has verbally committed to the University of Denver.

All three current high school players who represented Colorado on the Junior America’s Cup team this year — Bryant, McCoy and Dillon Stewart of Fossil Ridge — will compete in the 5A tournament. Also at CommonGround will be Canon Olkowski of Grand Junction, who has verbally committed to the University of Colorado, and Colorado Junior Match Play runner-up Jack Castiglia of Lakewood.

Bryant, Olkowski and McCoy were among those who recently won regional state-qualifying tournaments.

Team-wise, Regis will be seeking its seventh state title in the last eight years after improbably winning by a single stroke each of the last two seasons.

–– 4A at Raccoon Creek: Luke Trujillo of Discovery Canyon will be back to defend his indvidual title after defeating current DU golfer Jackson Solem in a playoff last year.

Trujillo shot a 5-under-par 65 to win a regional state-qualifying tournament at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo.

Discovery Canyon also will be trying to win its second consecutive team title. One of Trujillo’s teammates in that regard is Kaden Ford, who recently became just the fourth Coloradan ever to qualify for the finals of the Drive Chip & Putt Championship.

Joining Trujillo as a top-10 finisher from 2016 who’s returning to state are Darren Edwards of Thompson Valley (fourth last year), Tyler Severin of Roosevelt (sixth), Micah Stangebye of Montrose (seventh) and Caleb Blackburn of Discovery Canyon (10th).

Also in the field are Barrett Jones of Eagle Valley, one of the top players in JGAC tournaments this year, and TJ Shehee of Mead, who qualified for this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur.

— 3A at Indian Peaks: Oliver Jack of Kent Denver, like Trujillo, will be attempting to win his second straight state individual title. If either should prevail again, he would be the fifth two-time Colorado boys state high school champion since 1995. Last year, Jack, who’s verbally committed to CU, won in a playoff over Ivan Richmond of Estes Park, who likewise will return.

In all, 10 of the top 12 finishers from the 2016 3A state tournament will be back. Besides Jack and Richmond, there’s Ethan Tartaglia of Peak to Peak (third last year), Jackson Klutznick of Kent Denver (fourth), Nishant Datta of Peak to Peak (sixth), Ian Thorpe of Peak to Peak (sixth), Liam O’Halloran of The Classical Academy (sixth), Jacob Mason of Jefferson Academy (sixth), Peter Grossenbacher of Eaton (10th) and Billy Howenstein of Dawson School (10th).

Also in the field is Kent Denver’s Mateo Manzanares, a First Tee of Denver member who on Sunday teamed with PGA Tour Champions standout Scott McCarron to place fourth in the pro-junior competition of the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach.

Kent Denver, the 2016 team champion, will be seeking its record 10th boys state high school team title. Eight of its victories have come since 2006.

With three top-six finishers back from last year’s state runner-up school, 2015 state champion Peak to Peak figures to make another run at the title, particularly playing at its home course.

Aspen may also be a contender as it finished 1-2-3-4 in the regional at Devil’s Thumb, posting a team total of 6 under par.

Here are the teams and individuals that won regional state-qualifying tournaments last week:

5A Southern at Colorado Springs CC — Team: Heritage +5; Individual: Canon Olkowski, Grand Junction, and Sam Blackwood, Heritage, 70.

5A Northern at Coal Creek — Team: Regis Jesuit +11; Individual: Cal McCoy, Regis Jesuit, 71.

5A Central at Plum Creek — Team: Fossil Ridge +5; Individual: Davis Bryant, Eaglecrest, and Kieran McMullen, Rock Canyon, 71.

5A Western at Broadlands — Team: Arapahoe +9; Individual: Tommy Packer, Arapahoe, 71.

4A Region 1 at Elmwood — Team: Discovery Canyon +11; Individual: Luke Trujillo, Discovery Canyon, 65.

4A Region 2 at CC of Colorado — Team: Valor Christian +37; Individual: Keaton Hulen, Cheyenne Mountain, 76.

4A Region 3 at Boomerang — Team: Thompson Valley +13; Individual: Wes Weber, Mountain View, and Tyler Severin, Roosevelt, 70.

4A Region 4 at The Bridges — Team: Montrose +3; Individual: Bridger Tenney, Evergreen, and Micah Stangebye, Montrose, 71.

3A Region 1 at East to Links — Team: Kent Denver +1; Individual: Oliver Jack, Kent Denver, 69.

3A Region 2 at CommonGround — Team: Colorado Academy +3; Individual: Christian Agelopoulos, Colorado Academy, and Peter Grossenbacher, Eaton, 69.

3A Region 3 at Estes Park GC — Team: Sterling +11; Individual: Riley Schaefer, Sterling, 70.

3A Region 4 at Devil’s Thumb — Team: Aspen -6; Individual: Carter Hall, Aspen, 69.

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