If Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs wonders what it will be like to compete in the Drive, Chip & Putt Nationals at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia the week before the Masters, he won’t have to look far for someone with experience.
Ford, who on Saturday became just the fourth Coloradan ever to qualify for the DC&P Nationals, is a high school golf teammate of defending 4A state individual champion Luke Trujillo, who went to the Nationals at Augusta in the spring of 2016.
That should give Ford some insights.
The high school freshman overcame the DC&P Regional Qualifying hurdle on Saturday at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
With just the winner — out of 10 competitors — in each age/gender division of the Regionals advancing to Nationals on April 1, 2018, Ford won the Boys 14-15 competition. He scored 67 points in the drive portion of the contest, 17 in the chipping and 55 in the putting. That gave him 139 points overall, three more than runner-up Carsen Silliman.
The only other Coloradans who have made it to DC&P Nationals in the first five years of the competition are Trujillo, Arielle Keating and Caitlyn Chin, all of whom went in April of 2016. The Nationals are televised from Augusta by the Golf Channel.
Ford had to survive Local, Sub-Regional and Regional Qualifying to advance. In the Sub-Regional at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora last month, he finished second to Joshua Gallegos of Belen, N.M.
Ford was one of 20 Colorado residents who were competing in the Regionals at Southern Hills. None of the others advanced to Nationals, but here’s how all 20 fared on Saturday, with their scores and placing (Note: The top finisher in each division advances to Nationals. Points are for Drive-Chip-Putt–Total):
Boys 14-15
1. (out of 10 competitors) Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs 67-17-55–139
4. Hunter Khan of Highlands Ranch 42-13-65–120
8. Joshua Stouder of Grand Junction 42-13-36–91
Girls 14-15
3. (out of 10 competitors) Emma Bryant of Aurora 56-17-31–104
4. Alyssa Chin of Greenwood Village 36-26-41–103
5. Sofia Choi of Littleton 36-13-51–100
10. Rachel Penzenstadler of Centennial 34-3-31–68
Boys 12-13
4. (out of 10 competitors)Yusuke Ogi of Arvada 58-5-31–94
5. Wesley Erling of Arvada 18-30-41–89
Girls 12-13
3. (out of 10 competitors) Abigail Aeschleman of Highlands Ranch 47-27-41–115
4. Kaylee Chen of Highlands Ranch 39-17-45–101
Boys 10-11
3. (out of 10 competitors) Kaden Devenport of Windsor 46-3-50–99
7. Matai Naqica of Centennial 19-16-45–80
10. Tucker Jaffe of Vail 0-3-21–24
Girls 10-11
10. (out of 10 competitors) Macy Kleve of Windsor 30-4-17–51
Boys 7-9
2. (out of 10 competitors) Max Riley of Fort Collins 35-7-50–92
8. Ashton Edwards of Boulder 15-12-27–54
9. Collen Todd of Golden 20-3-27–50
Girls 7-9
4. (out of 10 competitors) Adrielle Miller of Highlands Ranch 15-18-36–69
6. Allie Smith of Aurora 8-22-35–65
In all, 40 boys and 40 girls will compete in the Nationals of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship, which is sponsored by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America. The competition is limited to players 7-15.
Each participant in the DCP is awarded points for each skill based on his or her performance, with the points added together for an overall score.
