Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Local golfer Jeff Franks will head to the Colorado Junior Golf Association's tournament of Champions this October thanks to a victory last week in Denver at the Denver Country Club Invitational.

"It's a big win for Jeff and should give him some confidence as he heads into the high school season," high school golf coach Jason Deigert said. 'It's a good win for him because this event draws the upper echelon of junior golfers from around the state."

The event invited the top 80 boys and top 40 girls from around the state of Colorado.

The golfers qualified by playing and accumulating points in Colorado Junior Golf Association events held across the state of Colorado throughout the year. A select group of junior golfers were also granted special invitations after proving themselves as the top juniors at their own clubs.

Frank's fired a round of 71, even par for the course. However, he had to top Grand Junction's Eric Winder in a playoff to win the event.

Deigert said the win would help him as he moves toward his final high school season and looks to gain the attention of college scouts.

"I think he definitely wants to go on and play college golf. That's one of the paths he is following right now," Deigert said.

The event also qualified him to play in the CJGA tournament of champions, which will be held in October.

"You have to win an event to get invited to that tournament," Deigert said." It should be another good opportunity for Jeff."

Last week's win was the first for Franks in a CJGA event. He left late last week to play in an American Junior Golf event in Spokane, Wash. this week. He will miss the first two high school tournaments because of that. Those tournaments are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of this week.