CORTEZ – Long after the course has emptied for the evening, a solitary figure cuts a striking silhouette against the setting sun on the driving range at Conquistador Golf Course.
The fluid swing of Montezuma-Cortez senior golfer Vince Lopez stings another ball out of sight into the summer night. He then drags another range ball on to a patch of turf and repeats the process.
Lopez anchors an upperclassmen-heavy Panther boys golf team on the heels of three consecutive seasons finishing in the top 25 in the state field. His eighth-place finish his junior year served as his career-best. And with another passing offseason, he appears to only have gotten stronger.
Lopez finished second overall in the Conquistador Golf Course Club Championship, shooting 1-over par over the two-day event, playing from the course’s longest tees.
“It was a lot of fun to play with ‘the adults’ in the Conquistador Men’s Golf Association, especially since I don’t get to play with them all that often,” Lopez said of his runner-up effort.
Alongside Lopez, classmate Gavin Frost enjoyed a massive breakout season during his junior campaign, dropping his scores regularly into the low to mid 70s, emerging with Lopez as one of the best one-two punches in the region.
In his state debut last fall, Frost finished tied for 55th among individual qualifiers, helping the Panthers tie for seventh in the team standings.
For Frost, golf became a passion later in life than most of his peers.
“I remember watching the 2019 Masters and Tiger Woods, and being amazed that someone could hit a ball that far,” Frost recalled. “I learned that I wasn’t as in to the other sports I played when I was younger, like football, wrestling and baseball, and I decided to stick with golf around eighth grade.”
Frost points to a competition after his sophomore season that helped catapult his game to new heights.
“I went to the North American Indigenous Games in Canada, and not only did it help me break 80, but I also got to meet kids from all tribes all over the continent – it was an awesome experience,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lopez became a fixture on the course from a young age, absorbing guidance from countless resources, including head professional Micah Rudosky, Panthers alumnus and 2002 state champion Shea Sena, and former teammate and 2022 state champ Thayer Plewe.
Lopez has poured countless hours into his work on the practice greens, hoping he can add his name to the state champions banner that hangs in “The Jungle.”
As Plewe’s teammate during his freshman and sophomore season, Lopez recognizes some similarities between their games.
“We both are fast swingers of the golf ball, but it was also good to learn how to approach each hole – sometimes it’s not always the best thing to hit the ball as far – and I’ve been learning where I need to sit back a bit so I can put more spin on the ball,” he said.
Lopez also said having Frost there to push him has been “really helpful.”
“I know that he’s going to push me every tournament for the top spot on the team,” he said.
For both Lopez and Frost, the mental aspect of the game has been a major improvement over their four years.
“I stopped focusing on more than one shot at a time,” Frost said about his improved mentality. “And I knew that I didn’t need to worry before each tournament, that the results would eventually come.”
The duo now looks to lead the charge for a Panther program eyeing yet another strong season and continued prominence as one of the Western Slope’s top program.
“These last four years have been the best times of my life,” Frost said. “It felt like I was a freshman just a couple weeks ago, but to be out here with my teammates, it means a lot.”
On a late July afternoon, the driving range was abuzz with high school energy. For consecutive years, the Panthers boast a roster exceeding double figures. As new coach Michael Doyle proudly points out, the Panthers feature not only its players, but also some players from Dolores, Mancos and Dove Creek.
A number of talented incoming freshmen complement a strong cohort of seniors. This comes as CHSAA implements a significant shift to the growing golf scene by adding a 2A classification. Montezuma-Cortez remains in 3A, but will now find themselves as one of the smallest schools because it will compete against schools double its enrollment.
Many of the new teams in their 3A region will converge on Conquistador on Sept. 30, in which the Panthers will host the regional competition. The Panthers will also entertain home tournaments on Aug. 8 and Aug. 27 leading up to regionals.
Montezuma-Cortez’s road trips will include Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo on Sept. 6. The 3A state championships will be held at that same course on Oct. 7-8.
