The high school boys that play golf in northern Nevada would have been jealous of this day. The boys play in the spring and usually get the much harsher weather conditions.
On the reverse side, the girls get to play in the fall and the Division I-A North made a stop in Winnemucca on Wednesday and the weather and course conditions were ideal for the some 50 girls.
Lowry High School was looking to cut into the league lead of Elko with the advantage of its home course. The outcome came down to a handful of shots with Elko winning with a 373 and Lowry was second at 377.
"We came out and played much better than the first week," said LHS coach Vince Mendiola. "The girls came out with some confidence and it was a plus being on their home course. The scores were a little lower but the course was still challenging. There are still things to work on and that is mostly on the greens. We need to think about what we are doing around the greens."
Fernley finished third for the third straight tournament, shooting a 432 and Churchill County (444) and Spring Creek (446) rounded out the top five. It was the first team score of the season for Spring Creek. Dayton was sixth at 570 and Truckee, South Tahoe and Sparks did not have enough players for a team total.
Elko's Kaily Beatty was the low medalist at 78, Lowry's Alyssa Dendary was second at 80 and Truckee's Sienna Scriber was third at 80. Fernley's Brittany Evans also shot 80, losing out on the scorecard tiebreaker to Scriber.
"Alyssa bounced back and played very well," Mendiola said. "She did a nice job and fixed some things. She hit a lot of nice putts. That is where I expect her to be."
Elise Rose shot her best round of the year at 88, which included a 41 on the back nine. Savanna Cox and Brooklyn Backus each carded rounds of 105.
"To see that score and that 41 on the back nine is great to see," said the coach. "If she can be in that range all the time it's going to be big for us. Brooklyn had a nice front round going and lost it a little bit, but she is going to break that 100 mark. When she does that, she is going to have the confidence to get in the 90s. Savanna also played well. If we can get four girls in double digits we will be in good shape."
Veronica Jones (115) and Kaity Sample (116) rounded out the scores for the Lady Bucks.
"To see everybody's average get better is what we are looking for," Mendiola said. "Hopefully, it will continue. We are not that far away from doing good things."
The race for the three berths at the state tournament remained the same, with Elko leading the league with 30 points. Lowry is second with 27 and Fernley (24) is fourth. The top three teams in the final regular season standings qualify for the Division I-A state tournament at Ruby View Golf Course in Elko.
Lowry travels to Sparks on Thursday with a 10 a.m. tee time on the executive course at Wildcreek.
"It will be a different challenge for everyone," Mendiola said. "With a shorter course there are going to be a lot of shots from 150 yards in. The girls are not going to need to hit their driver."[[In-content Ad]]
