A change of plans was an opportunity for something different and very beneficial Friday at Yampa Valley Golf Course.

Moffat County High School was scheduled to host the Bulldog Invitational, but when teams including Summit, Basalt and more were unable to attend, coach Justin Folley opted to turn the tournament format into a match-play event between his Moffat County golfers and the Steamboat Springs team.

The result was a more relaxed 18 holes that allowed players of all skill levels to get on the course and do so with a clear mind. The match-play had each golfer face off with one opponent — in one case, MCHS’s Brett Loyd against both Steamboat’s Jack Rotermund and Winn Eck — comparing their score per hole.

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The lower tally won a point or a half point for a tie, and all players on each team were able to take some glory.

Jack Starkey of the Sailors edged out Mike Bingham for the best score of the day with an 83 and 10.5 match-play points to Bingham’s 85 and 7.5.

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Bingham tied for eighth with a 78 in the larger 18-team tourney Thursday at Steamboat’s Haymaker.

Folley said two events in two days is a good warm-up for the bigger events of the season.

“They’ve got a practice round and the real round at regionals, then two days at state, so it helps them to prepare for that,” he said.

Another instance of 36 holes in 48 hours is coming up as the Bulldogs attend two meets in Montrose starting Tuesday.

The roster for the varsity event will include Bingham, Shandon Hadley and Kasen Brennise — who, along with Trevor Kuhn, was unable to shoot at home — as well as freshman Torin Reed.

“It can be intimidating for a freshman, but he’s really been doing great so far,” Folley said of Reed.

As for his fifth man in Montrose, Folley decided on Silas Canto to fill the spot based on solid play Friday.

Steamboat coach Andrew Donner was pleased with the scores he saw at the end of the day, including that of Amanda Perlman, who joined the team for the event, Steamboat still working on getting a girls golf squad in the works.

“This has been a great way to get our JV players out on the course,” he said.

Moffat County High School vs. Steamboat Springs match-play

Golfer — Total score, holes won

MCHS Varsity

Mike Bingham — 85, 7.5

Nick Burri — 87, 7.5

Shandon Hadley — 94, 7.5

Eddie Smercina — 98, 8

Torin Reed — 106, 7

Team — 470, 37.5

JV

Colton Hinkemeyer — 106, 8

Brett Loyd — 109, 7/5.5

Silas Canto — 98, 7.5

Gage Rowley — 136, 2.5

Nathan Cooper — No card, 4.5

— Loyd participated in match-play with two separate Steamboat golfers. Burri is from Meeker and plays for Rangely, but temporarily played for Moffat County.

Steamboat Varsity

Jack Starkey — 83, 10.5

Noah Bass — 86, 10.5

Zach Rossa — 92, 10.5

Jordan Gorr — 92, 10

Jack McNamara — 95, 11

Team — 448, 52.5

JV

Zachary Walsh — 99, 10

Jack Rotermund — 94, 11

Winn Eck — 94, 12.5

Colton Sankey — 94, 10.5

Bridger Boyd — 109, 15.5

Amanda Perlman — 117, 13.5