LOUISVILLE >> Bolstered by a strong back nine, Erie junior Sean Cary finished comfortably atop the competition at the inaugural Granite Peaks League boys golf championship.

Cary closed his Tuesday round at Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville with a score of 4-under-par 68, two strokes ahead of individual runner-up Ash Edwards of Fairview. After shooting even through nine holes, the Erie standout sunk two birdies and an eagle on the back nine.

“I played really good all around,” Cary said. “I putted good, drove the ball good and hit all my irons. I didn’t really mess up a lot.”

To make Cary’s performance even more impressive, he was only 24 hours removed from carding an 82 at a tournament in Monument. Cary shared that improved focus made all the difference from Monday to Tuesday.

Across the five league tournaments combined, Cary’s Tigers tallied the fewest total strokes to become the inaugural Granite Peaks League team champions. Fairview finished second in league overall, followed by Monarch in third.

On Tuesday, however, Monarch took first (3-over-par 291) on its home course after edging Erie by one stroke. Five Coyote golfers finished inside the top 10: fourth-place Bode Truman and Cameron Nicholson (72), sixth-place Dobi Argirov (73), seventh-place Justin Myers (74) and ninth-place Arjun Dhanoa (75).

Led by the freshman Edwards and junior Miles Kuhl (74), Fairview took third in Tuesday’s team standings.

“It’s definitely good for the confidence going into regionals and state,” Edwards said of his 2-under-par 70 outing. ”Hopefully we can keep that going.”

While he’s still adjusting to the high school level, Edwards hasn’t been intimidated by golfing alongside older players.

“I’m used to playing with all these guys, so it’s pretty familiar in terms of playing with kids that are a lot older than me,” said Edwards, who carded three birdies. “I’ve always kind of been in that position.”

Edwards finished one stroke ahead of third-place Josh Henderson, a junior from Erie. Henderson’s 1-under-par 71 round included three birdies on the back nine.

“Josh has really improved this year,” Cary said of his teammate Henderson. “I’m really excited to see what he does in the next couple of weeks because he’s playing really good right now.”

Legacy senior Jensen Riederer tied for ninth (75) while Broomfield’s Westly Dittberner, Silver Creek’s Preston Waller and Erie’s Owen Dubois tied for 11th (76).

For other teams, Tuesday’s GPL championship went down as more of a learning experience. Niwot placed 11th in the team standings, with junior Moses Lance leading the Cougars at 7-over-par 79. Moses admitted that although his team struggled at Coal Creek, he’s optimistic about Niwot’s future.

“I feel like we can get pretty hot,” Lance said. “Once we’re all playing great, we can go pretty low.”

Looking well ahead, regional tournaments are scheduled for the week of Sept. 30.