Rough day for area prep golf teams

From the middle of the state to the upper left corner of it, Tuesday was a rough day for prep golf teams from eastern New Mexico.

The Clovis girls and Portales boys finished out of title contention as the state 5A and 4A golf tournaments concluded. The two-day meets took place at Albuquerque’s Four Hill for Class 5A, while Class 4A’s championship was held at Pinon Hills.

Portales coach Matt Hunton said as soon as the Rams finished up and realized they were probably finishing around sixth, they took off with the long trip across the state still in front of them.

“We didn’t have anybody get into the 70s,” Hunton said of the Tuesday rounds. “This golf course is like nothing they’ve ever seen. Lots of hills, difficult to walk. I think it wore them down.”

St. Pius X’s Aidan Thomas was the medalist, shooting a two-day 150. Talon Payne was ninth at 157. Valen Low shot a 160 over the two days, while Nate Cota was at 168. Josh Haman finished with a 211. Kenevan Bailey shot a 223 on the tournament.

The Rams, two years ago, claimed a shared 4A title with Hope Christian in a rain-shortened tournament at Pinon Hills and last year took state along at Albuquerque’s Canyon Club. They’ll return everybody but Payne next year when they go for their third title in four seasons.

“They did well,” Hunton said of the season. “Our No. 5, Josh Haman improved. He’d only golfed for a few months. The guys got better throughout the season, and you could see that.”

The Clovis girls ended up ninth in the Class 5A field. They were led by Logan Clayton’s 178, and the Wildcats’ other three golfers shot in the 200s for the two days — 208 for Destiny Hodges, 220 for Kate Lubera and 240 for Kassidi Jaramillo.

“We came up with four girls,” Clovis coach Steve Speck said, “couldn’t bring our fifth. It’s tough when you bring four because if one doesn’t do well, you have to take their score. The two girls that did good yesterday didn’t do so well today, and the girls who didn’t do so well yesterday did well today. That’s golf. It was a difficult course. Logan had a really good back nine today.”

Cleveland took the title with a two-day 682, edging La Cueva (688) and well ahead of third-place Deming (732).

In the 5A boys tournament, Kolt Bennett golfed individually for Clovis and shot 155 over the two days. Piedra Vista won the title with a 610, easily ahead of La Cueva (647) and Deming (667). Cibola’s Aiden Kraft was the medalist, shooting a two-day total of 140.