More than 30 Colorado junior golfers set to play college golf starting in fall, including 14+ headed for NCAA Division I programs
By Gary Baines – 03/25/2019
The National Letter of Intent signing period for college golf runs from Nov. 14 to Aug. 1 for 2019 high school graduates, which means we’re almost exactly halfway through that period.
But as a practical matter, the great majority of signings and formal commitments have been made — especially for athletes headed to NCAA Division I programs.
On Nov. 15, ColoradoGolf.org first published a story on the Colorado high school seniors who are set to play college golf. But there’s been plenty of additions to the list since then, so an update seems in order.
All told, more than 30 golfers who went to high school in Colorado are committed to play college golf starting in the fall. And that includes at least 14 who are bound for DI programs — seven young women and six young men.
Here’s the alphabetical list, with asterisks indicating those going to Division I teams:
BOYS
— Aidan Bean of Castle Rock (Douglas County HS) — Bethany College (Kan.)
— Cameron Berthold of Arvada (Pomona HS) — Southern Virginia
— Brandon Bervig of Colorado Springs (Liberty HS) — University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
— Ryan Bomareto of Thornton (Horizon HS) — Dodge City Community College (Kan.)
— 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.)
— *Billy Howenstein (Dawson School) — Southern Methodist University (Texas)
— *Jack Hughes of Aspen (Aspen HS) — University of Colorado
— Houston Irwin (Mead HS) — Northeastern Junior College
— *Connor Jones of Westminster (Mountain Range HS) — University of Denver
— Kellen Kudrna (Mead HS) — Irvine Valley College (California)
— 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, pictured above (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
— Julianna Brienza (Mountain Range HS) — Regis University
— *Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora (Grandview HS) — University of Northern Colorado
— *Leigha Devine of Windsor (Fossil Ridge HS) — Rutgers University
— 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.)
— Heather Laird (Mountain Range HS) — Geneva College (Penn.)
— *Lauren Lehigh of Loveland (Loveland HS) — University of New Mexico
— Lexi Mueldener of Arvada (Ralston Valley HS) — Grinnell College (Iowa)
— *Olivia Roper of Denver (Denver East HS) — University of South Dakota
— *Morgan Ryan of Centennial (Grandview HS) — University of Wyoming
— Lois Sheaffer of Greeley (Northridge HS) — Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.
— Kinsey Smith of Windsor (Windsor HS) — Chadron State (Neb.)
— *Jessica Zapf of Windsor (Windsor HS) — University of Wyoming
And it’s noteworthy that a good percentage of the Division I teams noted above are ranked among the top 100 in the nation by Golfstat — the Oklahoma State men (1), SMU men, Charleston men (64), and CU men (83); and DU women (75), Rutgers women (81), and New Mexico women (95).
The DI recruits above include several state high school champions: Stewart (5A boys and the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Boys Player of the Year in 2018), Chitkoksoong (5A girls in 2017) and Lehigh (4A girls in 2017 and the JGAC Girls Player of the Year in 2018).
And the list above features just the class of 2019. At least three class of 2020 golfers from Colorado have already given verbal commitments to DI programs — Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village (Kent Denver HS) — Northwestern; Marie Jordaan of Lakewood (Colorado Academy) — Santa Clara; and Hailey Schalk of Erie (Holy Family HS) — University of Colorado.
Schalk has won 3A state high school titles as both a freshman and a sophomore.
(Note: Please let us know additional signees by emailing golfjournal@coloradogolf.org)