Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
The wind blew hard Thursday afternoon at Eagle Valley Golf Course, and the bulk of the field at the Carson High Invitational saw their scores soar.
Carson, which trailed Nevada Union by four shots entering the final round, shot 38 strokes worse and ended up in third place with an 820, 28 shots behind NU which won with a 792. Spanish Springs' A squad, which improved by 11 shots, finished at 799.
"It wasn't too bad," Carson coach Terry Gingell said. "The wind was blowing strong out there. We played well, but not as well as we would have liked. I know Jonathan (Singer) was disappointed."
The only Carson player to shoot better Thursday was Jordan Rogers, who went from an 83 to an 82. Singer went from a 75 to an 80, Ryan Livermore went from a 78 to a 92, Jayson Davis went from a 77 to an 84, Garrett Gingell went from an 81 to a 91 and Steven Valdez went from an 80 to a 94.
Singer, who shot a solid 3-over-par 75, was 1-over through nine, bogeying No. 5, a 439-yard par-4.
His back nine, however, turned into a bogey fest with five bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-4 18th.
After parring No. 10 with a chip to within a foot for a tap-in par, Singer reeled off three straight bogeys, including No. 12 where he three-putted from 15 feet. After pars at Nos. 14 and 15, he bogeyed the 342-yard 16th after failing to reach the green in two and then chipping the ball about 12 feet past the hole. He lipped out his par putt. Another subpar chip cost him a bogey at the par-3 17th.
"My putter was off today," Singer said. "Yesterday the greens were slow. I couldn't get going. The wind was a lot worse on the back. It (bad round) happens sometimes."
Davis, who took a 10 on the par-5 15th, had an eagle on No. 8 and a birdie on No. 16.
On No. 8, he had 231 yards to the hole and knocked his 4-iron approach shot to 3 feet and then drained the putt. On No. 16, he uncorked a 330-yard drive and then chipped to 3 feet and made another putt.
"I'm a pretty good wind player," said Davis, who carded a first-day 77. "I was making mental errors way too much."
Livermore had 10 pars on the day, but fell victim to some big numbers. He had two triple bogeys, two double bogeys and a whopping 11 on No. 9, a 344-yard par-4.
"I tried to drive the green," Livermore said. "It flew the green and went OB (out of bounds). I topped my second drive and then hit a 5-wood OB. I hit a 4-iron into the water. It was a hard day for me. I made a few errors."