Not This Time

For first time since 2023, no Coloradan claims a victory in an in-state AJGA tournament; Nicholas Brooks of Parker and Ella Scott of Castle Rock runner-up in playoffs at The Wyndham Clark presented by the CGA

By Gary Baines 

It was a close call — close, as in two playoffs — but the streak of Coloradans winning at least one gender division at Colorado-based AJGA events ended at six on Thursday.

In-state players had swept boys titles at Colorado AJGA tournaments in both 2024 (Austin Hunt of Highlands Ranch, Tyler Long of Evergreen and Miles Kuhl of Boulder) and 2024 (Henry Starr of Englewood, Nicholas Brooks of Parker and Kuhl).

But though Coloradans were involved in both the boys and girls playoffs at the AJGA Wyndham Clark Presented by the CGA, they lost in “overtime” to out-of-state golfers — specifically to Estuardo Duque of Oakdale, Calif., and to incoming high school freshman Claire Brooks of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Two members of Team Colorado — the elite junior squad that’s part of the USGA’s national development program — were involved in the playoffs.

Brooks took a two-stroke lead into the final round and led pretty much the whole day on Thursday before taking a double bogey on hole 14 and a bogey-6 on the 18th. Then he lost on the first hole of a playoff to Duque, who had birdied the final hole of regulation for a 70. Both players finished at 11 under par for three rounds.

Meanwhile, Ella Scott of Castle Rock rallied from six behind entering the final day with a 1-under 71 on Thursday, when she played her final 10 holes in 3 under. That put her in a three-way playoff with 18- and 36-hole leader Brooks, who struggled to a final-round 77, and Naomi Koontz of Newton, Kan. But Brooks regrouped to prevail in the playoff, which lasted two holes. All three players were 1 over par for 54 holes.

Three fellow Coloradans joined the Butler University-bound Brooks in the boys top three, when factoring in ties: Ash Edwards of Boulder, Brayden Forte of Aurora and Alexander Kukreja of Denver (all third place at 8 under). Two-time defending boys champ Kuhl shared seventh place at 7 under.

Brooks had been trying to win his second AJGA event in Colorado, having prevailed at the 2025 AJGA Colorado Springs Junior.

On the girls side, joining Scott in the top five overall from Colorado were Sophia Lee of Columbine Valley and Henly Wilson of Colorado Springs, who shared fourth place at 2 over par, one out of the playoff.

For all the scores from The Wyndham Clark, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com