Portales Ram golfers fifth after first day at NMMI

A second place round from Portales sophomore William Archibeque highlighted an otherwise disappointing fifth place finish by the Ram golfers at the Roswell-NMMI Invitational Monday at the NMMI golf course.

Archibeque’s one-over par 73 was second to Alamogordo senior Michael Adams’ two-under par 70.

“William played the best round of his year so far,” Ram head golf coach Pat Crowley said. “He hit very, very well.”

Adams led the Tigers to an opening round best team score of 309. The Artesia boys were just five strokes back at 314, followed by Goddard and Lovington’s 316.

Portales tied Roswell High for fifth at 318. Tournament host NMMI shot 321, followed by Clovis’ 332.

“The guys didn’t give up,” Crowley said. “We just didn’t approach it as forceful as I would have wanted them to.”

Portales sophomore Donavin Sanchez’ 78 was good enough for the 10th best score of the day, followed by Ram senior Jefferson Powers’ 83. Rick Bergman was one-stroke back from Powers at 84, and senior Garrett Hatch rounded out the Portales bunch at 88.

“The disappointment was that we hit some bad shots, caught some bad breaks and really weren’t ready to play,” Crowley said.

The girls played their first day at Roswell’s Spring River golf course. Portales senior Lindsey Woodward led the Lady Rams with a first-round score of 103, followed by Tori Teague’s 106. Fellow sophomores Amber McCasland and Arinn Lovett posted an identical score of 123, and sophomore Lexie Polich shot a 137.

“We did OK,” Lady Ram head coach Brenda Gomez said. “(Today) will be better. We had an hour delay with lightning and thunder, so (today) should be better for us.”

The girls play their second round today at NMMI, while the boys are at Spring River.

“It’s a tougher golf course (today), the wind is supposed to pick up a little bit,” Crowley said. “We’ll see what we’re made of.”