Goff captures city title

John Wright chips a ball in on the fifth hole of the Clovis Municipal Golf Course Sunday during the final day of the city championship tournament (CNJ staff photo: Andrew Chavez).

There weren’t many hiccups this weekend in Robert Goff’s game.

The former Clovis High golfer carried a three-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the Clovis City Championship at Municipal Golf Course, and he did little wrong in winning the championship flight with a 54-hole score of 15-under 199.

Former CHS teammate Travis Reid finished second, five strokes back at 204. Defending champion David Gutierrez was third at 209.

“Travis and David are both good players, and either one easily could’ve won it,” said Goff, who leaves today for Las Cruces to begin preparations for his senior year at New Mexico State. “Today, the only mistake I made was on 16 when I had a double-bogey.”

Goff rebounded to birdie the final two holes.

Reid, who will be a freshman at the University of New Mexico in the fall, said he hit a bad shot on the 10th hole after closing the margin to two shots. “That’s when it all went south,” said Reid, who finished with a 66.

He wasn’t able to overcome his second-round 73, which erased a one-shot lead over Goff.

“Sixty-five or 66 is respectable in my book, but seeing that 73 by my name is embarrassing,” Reid said. “Even being three back, I had my chances, but (Robert) played really good.

“I hate losing, but I don’t mind losing to that player. He has a good attitude about the game.”

Goff said even though he ended up with a comfortable margin, he never felt that comfortable.

“He was right with me all day long,” Goff said of Reid. “If I’d made many mistakes, he probably would’ve had a good chance to win.”

The 50-year-old Gutierrez knocked his tee shot out of bounds on the first hole and posted a double-bogey, pretty much taking him out of contention.

Still, the four-time city champion said he enjoyed playing with Goff and Reid.

“You can’t give them that kind of room,” said Gutierrez, who started the three strokes out of the lead and shot 71. “Those kids just played good, and I enjoyed watching them. I just couldn’t make enough birdies.”

Forty-three golfers participated in the event, which featured five flights and had a 54-hole format for the first time.

City championship

At Municipal Golf Course

x-won playoff for first place

Heavyweight Flight: 1. Robert Goff 66-69-64 — 199; 2. Travis Reid 65-73-66 — 204; David Gutierrez 69-69-71 — 209; 4. Jarod Dosher 72-67-75 — 214; 5. Mike Majors 72-72-71 — 215; 6. David Maldonado 74-70-73 — 217; 7. Joe Wright 74-76-74 — 224; 8. Robert Fox 70-78-79 — 227; 9. Jason Saiz 81-72-79 — 232; 10. Angel Martinez 80-82-76 — 238.

Welterweight Flight: 1. Richard Romero 76-74-72 — 222-x; 2. Jordan Moore 78-71-73 — 222; 3. Ray Ortiz 72-79-73 — 224; 4. Jimmy Dominguez 73-82-71 — 226; 5. Greg Trujillo 79-73-75 —227; 6. Tim Larko 77-71-82 — 230; 7. Amit Bhakta 76-77-81 — 234; 8. Dale Shaw 79-77-79 — 235; 9. Daniel Tapia 79-82-78 — 239; 10. Ronnie Romero 77-79-85 — 241; 11. Todd Leinkenhoker 86-83-84 — 253.

Middleweight Flight: 1. Mackey Alred 79-78-75 — 232; 2. J.P. Lienenburg 81-78-77 — 236; 3. Doug Gibbs 85-81-79 — 245; 4. Will Thron 88-88-84 — 260; 5. Michael Craig 86-88-91 — 265; 6. Chase Davies 90-94-98 — 282.

Lightweight Flight: 1. James Pacheco 78-78-83 — 239; 2. John Wright 79-80-83 — 242; 3. Angy Knight 84-81-79 — 244; 4. Ed Thornsberry 86-80-79 — 245; 5. Ron Smith 80-87-82 — 249; 6. Matt Cordova 84-80-89 — 253; 7. Ray Dorris 90-82-83 — 255; 8. John Buchanan 90-88-92 — 270.

Featherweight Flight: 1. Richard Martinez 81-87-86 — 254; 2. Gary Kibbe 79-88-89 — 256; 3. Raul Romero 89-87-93 — 269; 4. Mark Leinberger 98-89-94 — 281; 5. Alden McWhorter 97-93-101 — 291; 6. Alfred Rubio 91-102-99 — 292; 7. Hank Drake 96-98-110 — 304; 8. Gary Brummer 104-103-107 — 314.