Hayden Dan named San Juan County’s top girls golf player
Hayden Dan’s back-to-back state runner-up finishes made the Kirtland Central sophomore San Juan County’s top girls golfer and a rare countywide face for Navajo talent.
Hayden Dan’s back-to-back runner-up finishes in New Mexico’s Class 4A girls golf state tournament made the Kirtland Central sophomore San Juan County’s top girls golfer. She also was named Tri-City Record’s 2026 Spring Splendor top student athlete for golf, putting a Navajo player from Kirtland Central at the center of countywide recognition.
Dan’s results were built on two narrow losses at the state level. In 2025, she shot a two-day 149 at Piñon Hills Golf Course in Farmington and finished five shots behind Rylee Salome of Belen. In 2026, she posted a two-day 161 at New Mexico Tech Golf Course in Socorro and again took second, this time behind Adelyn Haas of Albuquerque Academy. Dan has now finished in the top 10 at each of the last three state championship tournaments, dating back to her eighth-grade season.
Her rise has also helped lift Kirtland Central’s girls program into the state picture. In 2025, the Broncos finished second in the Class 4A team standings with 710 strokes, their best state championship-tournament finish since winning the Class A-3A title in 2000. Kirtland Central also won the District 1-4A girls title in both 2025 and 2026, with Dan helping lead the way alongside her older sister Dallas Dan and teammate Makayla Manus.
That run matters in San Juan County, where girls golf often gets less attention than the bigger sports and where talented Navajo athletes can still go unrecognized outside their own schools. Dan’s countywide honor gives younger players in Kirtland and across the county a visible example of what can happen when local talent breaks through at the state level.
The recognition has also pushed Dan onto a national stage. Tri-City Record reported that iWanamaker rankings placed Hayden and Dallas Dan among the top two high school girls golfers in the country, and Dan was preparing for two national events on the East Coast in June 2026. Coach Judith Camacho said Dan’s success could help draw more players into the game, and the county’s latest honor now matches the results on the course with a broader place in San Juan County sports history.
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