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Steamboat Springs — Castle Rock's Cody Kent was nearly perfect Monday in the opening round of the Colorado Junior Golf Association's Haywhacker junior championships. But after his round, the young golfer kept things in perspective.

"It was a nice round, but it doesn't mean anything," the Douglas County High School senior said. "We still have half a tournament to play, and I know anything can happen."

On Monday, Kent took advantage of accurate drives and a strong short game to trim strokes off the tricky mountain fairways and protected greens at the Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club.

Kent was 5 under through the first 15 holes, and despite a couple of scares down the stretch, he was able to finish out the round at 69.

"I spun the ball off the green on 16, and ended up taking a double (bogey)," Kent said. "I also ended with a sloppy par on 18."

Clark Shafer, who is also from Castle Rock, and Connor Klein, of Lone Tree, pursued Kent through the first 18 holes of the tournament.

Shafer finished at 71, one under par for the course, and Klein finished with an even-par round of 72.

"I was able to keep in on the fairways, and this was my best putting performance of the year," Shafer said. "I think I'm second right now, which is OK. I really like Haymaker (Golf Course), and I'm looking forward to playing there."

The championships flight will head to the Haymaker Golf Course for the final round today.

Kent and Shafer have played in this tournament before and know how things can change on the final day.

"I'm just going to take it easy tonight," Kent said. "I might stop by Haymaker and try to get a feel for the greens, but I didn't think about winning today, and I'm not gong to be thinking about that tomorrow."

Steamboat's Scott Ptach was the only local golfer in the championship bracket of the tournament. He is tied for 21st place, after shooting a 79 at the Rollingstone course.

But Kent isn't the only golfer looking to hang on for a title in the Haywhacker this year. Five other golfers also took the upper hand in their divisions and will attempt to bring home a title today.

Sydney Merchant, of Morrison, topped the girls 11 to 13 division after shooting a 91 on the first day, and Danielle Urman, of Greenwood Village, topped the girls 14 to 18 division with a first round score of 77.

Payton DeVencenty, of Aurora, shot 74 to take the lead in the boys 11 to 13 division, and Nicholas Reisch, of Thornton, finished with a 73 to earn the top spot in the boys 14 to 15 division. Austin Lucero, of Superior, finished at 79 and is tied with Highlands Ranch's Kyle Tobin for the lead in the 16 to 18 division. Steamboat's Alan Capistron shot an 86 and is tied for 13th in that age division.

This is the first time the Haywhacker golf tournament has been split between two courses.

The tournament was started as a local event in the 1990s but was taken over by the Colorado Junior Golf Association a few years ago. The event has grown into one of Steamboat's biggest junior events and draws golfers from across the state who want to play.

"This is one of our most popular events of the summer," CJGA spokesman Dustin Jensen said. "We are excited about the move to split it between the two Steamboat Springs courses. You couldn't ask for two courses with different challenges."