High School Golfers Compete at State

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Four boys from local high schools competed at the 3A State Boys Golf Championship played at the Toiyabe Golf Club near Reno last week.

VVHS freshman Viktor Cu and sophomore Issac Johnson competed in the tournament for the Bulldogs. MVHS juniors Braden Leavitt and Cash Keller represented the Pirate team at State. All four qualified for the tournament as individual players. Neither school qualified this year to compete at state as a team.

The individual tournament, which took place on May 16-17, had 46 competitors from around the state playing in two full rounds of golf over two days to select placements with the top six winning a medal.

Keller just made it into the top ten with a total two-day score of 176. “Cash did really good on both days,” said MVHS head coach Sean Tyler. “He is a junior this year so, I think, he has a good chance of placing much higher next year if he keeps it up.”

Viktor Cu placed #28 for Virgin Valley at a total of 193 with a 98 on the first day and 95 the second. Fellow Bulldog golfer, Issac Johnson ended up in #43 with 222 strokes total: 109 the first day and 113 the second day.

“There was a lot of tough competition up there and they are both pretty young,” said VVHS Head Coach Doug Waite. “So I think they were a little intimidated that first day. But they had a good time and we are getting better all the time. It was good experience for them. They both have a couple of years of high school still to play. I think they will do well.”

Braden Leavitt of Moapa Valley ended #45 in the tournament at a total of 229 strokes. But he took some time to warm up. Leavitt scored a 125 in the first day of competition. But then on Wednesday, he dropped his score to just 104.
“If he had played on both days like he did on Wednesday, he would have moved up in the rankings quite a bit,” Tyler said.

The golfers at State had some unique challenges to deal with. Because of all the snowmelt in the area, the Toiyabe Golf Club was not in peak condition. There was a lot of standing water and marshy areas as well as a good deal of long grass to deal with.
“It is a beautiful course and it was gorgeous weather for golf,” Waite said. “But they’ve had a rough winter. It made a difference.”

Both teams are in fairly solid standing for going forward.
Virgin Valley had seven on its team this season with only one senior. The rest were freshman and sophomores. “So if they all keep working hard, there could be a bright future for the team,” Waite said.

The Bulldogs’ home course is the Casablanca Golf Club where they practice nearly every weekday during the season.

The Moapa Valley team had 11 turn out at the beginning of the year with nine staying on through the season. “We consistently took 6 golfers to our tournaments,” Tyler said. “We held qualifyers to determine who those 6 would be and some of the spots shifted throughout the season.”

The home course for the Pirates is at Coyote Springs. Tyler said that this Jack Nicklaus pro course is a particularly tough course for high school golfers. But there are benefits to taking on the challenge of practicing at Coyote Springs, he said.

“The more control they develop on a tough course, the easier a wide courses will be,” Tyler said.