Closing 2025 Strong

Coloradan Thayer Plewe, CSU’s Jake Rodgers notch top-10 finishes at prestigious 2025-ending Thunderbolt Invite

By Gary Baines – 12/31/2025

Thayer Plewe, from the southwestern Colorado town of Cortez, started out his college golf career on a high note this past fall. In his first semester as a college player, the Montezuma-Cortez High School alum finished the fall ranked No. 126 in all of men’s NCAA Division I golf.

And the 2022 3A state high school individual champion kept up the momentum to conclude the 2025 calendar year — in the midst of college golf’s winter break.

The left-hander, who plays his college golf at the University of New Mexico, tied for seventhout of 73 competitors on Wednesday in one of the more notable December tournaments in amateur golf, the Thunderbolt Invitational in Surprise, Ariz.

Thayer Plewe of Cortez made 16 birdies over 54 holes this week. (file photo: University of New Mexico)

Plewe carded rounds of 70-68-69 to finish at 6 under par overall at Sterling Grove Golf and Country Club, ending up three behind the top performers. Over 54 holes, Plewe made 16 birdies and 10 bogeys.

Also posting a top-10 finish Wednesday in the Thunderbolt was Colorado State University junior Jake Rodgers, who tied for ninth place. Rodgers, who notched two top-10 showings in the fall college season, went 73-67-68 for a 5-under-par total.

The Thunderbolt was held in conjunction with an even more prestigious December event, the Patriot All-America, where the top finisher with significant Colorado ties was the University of Denver’s Jack Dozer, who finished 24th. University of Colorado golfer Carolyn Fuller, the CGA Women’s Player of the Year in 2025, tied for 48th place in the women’s Patriot.

For all the scores from the Thunderbolt, CLICK HERE.

For scores from the Patriot All-America, CLICK HERE.