Something unusual happened to the Lowry High School boys golf team on its trip to Elko County last week - it lost a Division I-A North tournament. The last time the Buckaroos suffered a defeat was at the 2011 state championships.
Lowry fell short at Ruby View Golf Course on April 17, as Elko used its home course to its advantage to shoot a 404, beating Lowry (409) by five shots. Truckee was third at 432 and Spring Creek (434) and Fernley (446) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
"You look at it and it was bound to happen," said LHS coach Andrew Meyer. "Elko has a good team this year and they were on their home course. I have to give them credit, they have been second all these years. I think it was a wake-up call for us. They awoke the dragon from a deep slumber. The kids get so used to winning and they don't think they can lose. It was the best thing that could happen to us."
The Buckaroos' Andy Mendoza was the low medalist with a 2-over par 74, while Ethan Gray was one of four golfers to shoot 77. Elko's Caudy Mead and Isaac Cordova and Truckee's Cody Tilton also carded 77s.
Josh Shaver and Chris Mendoza shot 80 and 82, respectively and Josh Rose (96) and Blake Duncan (101) rounded out the scores. Duncan was playing in his first high school tournaments.
"The course played tough," Meyer said. "We had another new guy in that sixth spot. Right now, I am trying to shore up the fifth and sixth spots. I have noticed a little lack of dedication and I sat down with them on Monday. We may have won the last two state championships, but no one is going to hand it to us this year. There are some teams down south that are hungry. If we want to win, we have to put the time in."
Normalcy returned to the course on April 18 as the Buckaroos moved over to Spring Creek Golf Course. The Buckaroos bounced back to win with a 387, their second-lowest score of the season. Elko was second at 408 and Spring Creek placed third on its home course at 422. Truckee (440) was fifth, Churchill County (454) was sixth and South Tahoe (462) placed seventh. Dayton (499) and Sparks (514) rounded out the scores.
"It was nice to see us bounce back the way we did," Meyer said. "The guys came in with a purpose and turned in a good round. Spring Creek is not an easy course."
Gray ran away with the low medalist honors by six strokes with his round of 68, the best in the Division I-A North this season. Chris Mendoza came back with a 74 to finish second overall and Shaver and Andy Mendoza finished at 80 and 82, respectively. Rose shot an 83 and Duncan finished with a round of 90.
"Ethan played great and his round could have been even better," Meyer said. "It was nice to see Chris shoot what he did. He deserved that and I know he is capable of doing that. He has been struggling with his driver. He has had a few bad breaks on the course but was able to get some putts to fall. He showed what he could do. It was nice to see what Josh shot. If we are to win the state championship, it's going to come from that fifth and sixth spot."
Gray, Andy Mendoza and Chris Mendoza are currently the top three golfers in the Division I-A North and Shaver is sixth.
Lowry holds a four-point lead over Elko (44-40) in the season-long standings for the regional championship. Spring Creek is third with 35 points and Truckee (27) and Fernley (26) are fourth and fifth, respectively. With just two tournaments remaining, Lowry, Elko and Spring Creek have all but locked up the three state tournament berths.
The Buckaroos are off this week and return to the course on Thursday at South Tahoe.
"We have to focus on making right decisions and having the right mental approach," Meyer said. "We have to make smart decisions and know that you don't have to carry the team on your back. We took a lot out of our trip to Elko and Spring Creek."
Winnemucca Publishing sports editor Tony Erquiaga can be reached at t.erquiaga@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
