If you know anything about a colt, he tends to follow the herd. This Cottonwood boys golf team is now following their new head coach Bud Oettli, who is leading them to the water’s edge where they’ve moved into third place in Region 10 to take a few

long drinks. 

“He’s doing a really good job with the kids,” said Greg Southwick, the Colts’ longtime coach who is retiring after 33 years later this year. The ‘ol coach said he still gets out to the golf course when he can as Oettli’s assistant, which is reversing the roles from last year when Oettli was underneath him. But for the most part, Southwick’s handed over the reins to Oettli, who’s got the Colts in contention to make big hoofprints at the upcoming Region 10 tournament. 

That’s due in part to the play from junior Tommy Yates, who is putting everything together at his most recent state qualifiers and has hit for par on two different par-72 courses: River Oaks and
Murray Parkway. 

Yates is Cottonwood’s top golfer. He’s averaging a 73 when the courses all call for the same score and what’s most impressive about the junior is that Yates is the No. 15-ranked golfer in all of Class 4A. 

With a 73.07 adjusted score average per every 18 holes played, Yates is only five strokes from becoming 4A’s best golfer off the blue tee. 

Cottonwood has another junior in its top two in Ayden Ryser who hit a season-high 78 at Oquirrh Hills, a course notorious for having high winds and difficult roughs in Tooele County. 

Sophomore Lucian Roumpos (pronounced romp-us) is Cottonwood’s third-best golfer this season. He had a 76 at Park City Sept. 12, which was his best score. 

Rounding out the top four is senior Tyce Cook, who also shot an 81 on the Colts’ home course at Murray Parkway. 

“We feel good about this team,” said Southwick, who noted that if the Colts qualify for the state tournament, it’ll mark the third time in four years that Cottonwood has made it as a team to the big shindig. 

As a team, the Colts started the season at Oquirrh Hills Aug. 13 finishing in fourth place, one stroke behind third-place Murray. 

Cottonwood also finished fourth in the second event at Murray Parkway on Aug. 21, but caught a second wind in the third event at River Oaks Aug. 28, finishing ahead of Murray. In the fourth event at Park City Sept. 12, the Colts bettered that result by finishing second, which moved them into third place in Region 10. 

“We have a pretty good idea about the first four guys and where they’ll place [on the team],” said Southwick, who noted that six players will compete for Cottonwood at the state tourney if they qualify. “But, we still aren’t sure about the last two spots…there has been a few guys moving in and out of those positions over the past few events.” 

Next up for Cottonwood’s boys golf team is the Region 10 tournament, followed by the 4A state tournament Oct. 16-17 at Meadow Brook Golf Course in Taylorsville. When asked who he thought the Colts would finish at the two tournaments, Southwick said he was optimistic about Cottonwood’s chances. 

“I’ll have to get back to you on that,” he said. “But I am looking forward to seeing how it’ll turn out.” λ