Senators fourth in Carson Invitational

Senators fourth in Carson Invitational

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

The weather got back to normal, and the Spanish Springs golf team responded with a solid effort to win the annual Carson Invitational Thursday afternoon at Eagle Valley-West.

Led by medalist Zach Beebe, who won the individual title with a 36-hole total of 146, the Cougars shot 378 as a team to finish with a 785, a whopping 36 strokes ahead of second-place Nevada Union (821). Fallon was third at 836 followed by Carson I at 842.

Besides Beebe, who shot a second-day 71, Ren Wilson shot 75, and Robert Perea and Scott Kelly shot 76s. All six Spanish Springs golfers finished in the top 19.

If anybody has any doubts about the Cougars winning regionals on May 5-6 at Genoa Lakes, forget about it.

"I'd give them a lock," Carson coach Rod Butler said. "I don't foresee anybody beating them. I think it will be Galena, Manogue, Fallon and us fighting for that second spot."

Butler was pleased with his team's effort. The Senators, led by Jonathan Singer's 3-over-par 75 and a 79 by Ryan Livermore, cut 34 strokes off their first-day score en route to a fourth-place finish. Zack Rispin was next with an 81.

"It was fine," Butler said. "Overall, I thought we played pretty consistent for the most part. Ryan came back after rough day (on Wednesday). We still need Isaac Holt (94-84) to come around. We need lower scores from him come zone (regionals) time.

"Ryan has to stay consistent. If he doesn't break 80, he needs to be in the low 80s (80-81-82-83). We can have him in the 90s. Sam (Staub) always shoots 85 or better. Jordan (Rogers) will need to shoot 85 or better."

Singer was even more emphatic on what the Senators need to do at regionals.

"We should have four in the 70s all the time," he said. "We didn't play to our potential (in the tournament). Me and Zack (Rispin) need to be in the low 70s. If we have only three in the 70s, the others need to be 80, 81 or 82."

Singer's round included an eagle and four pars on the front nine and a birdie on the back side.

Singer opened with a par and followed that up with a three-putt double-bogey on No. 2, a 416-yard par-4 and a bogey on No. 3. On No. 3, Singer drove the ball into the fairway bunker and then his bunker shot caught the lip of the trap. That forced him to lay up in front of the hazard. His approach shot ended up on the back of the green, but he sank a 6-footer to save a bogey.

On the 333-yard par-4 7th, Singer drove the ball down the right-side of the fairway, and his next shot was golden.

Singer took a lob wedge, carried the sand trap. The ball bounced twice and rolled directly into the hole. Unfortunately, Singer never saw it drop it. Obviously, he hasn't mastered the Sergio Garcia shot and sprint down the fairway yet.

"That jump-started my round," Singer said. "I couldn't see the pin. I knew it was close. That's the first time I've done that in a tournament (an eagle). I've had eagles on par-5s when I've been on the green in two and sank a putt."

He followed the eagle with back-to-back bogeys, but finished the front with three straight pars.

Singer played solid golf on the back side, registering six straight pars before dropping a birdie putt on No. 15, a 559-yard par-5. He lipped out a birdie putt on 16th and then finished bogey-bogey.

"I'm pretty happy with my round," Singer said. "It was rough at the beginning with my putter. I knew after the second hole I would have a good round because I was hitting the ball well."

Rispin birdied No. 4 thanks to a sand wedge and a 10-foot putt. However he suffered through a bogey barrage which spanned the final five holes on the front, and on three of those holes he three-putted. He started the back side with a birdie on No. 10, as he hit a lob wedge to 6 feet and drained the putt.

"I was even on the back nine for a while," Rispin said. "I hit about every green on the front and I only missed two or three on the back. I couldn't make enough putts. I missed four or five by an inch or two. I had a lot of bogeys."

Livermore went from a 93 to a 79, Staub shot 85 and Holt went from a 94 to 84, but he is capable of getting into the high 70s. Garrett Gingell improved 10 strokes from a 98 to an 88.

Carson closes out the regular season next Tuesday with a Sierra League meet at Silver Oak.

• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281