Fallon golfer Raymond Plasse pumps his fist as his putt on the fifth hole goes in during Wednesday's Northern Division I-A league tournament at the Fallon Golf Course.
After two tournaments, the Fallon boys golf team is of the race in the Northern Division I-A.
On Wednesday, sophomore Raymond Plasse led the Greenwave to fifth-place finish at the Fallon Golf Course. Plasse also took advantage of the home course and was the individual medalist with a low score of 79.
The Wave returned to the links Thursday at Fernley, but results were not available at press time.
As for Wednesday’s tournament, Elko took the team win with a score of 435 followed by Truckee (437), Spring Creek (451), Lowry (456) and Fallon (457).
“In all honesty, we struggle on our own course,” Fallon coach Rich Evans said. “The greens were super fast. The bright spot was Raymond Plasse.”
Plasse’s game, meanwhile, was hitting on cylinders as his driving and short game was on point. Evans said the catalyst for Plasse’s success was his ability to keep the ball in play and avoid hitting into the rough.
The course was in good shape, although the greens played fast, making it more difficult to putt, Evans said.
Nevertheless, Plasse was able to overcome the fast conditions. Evans said his sophomore’s growth is in part to his mental approach.
Plasse doesn’t get too high or too low and plays in the moment, the Fallon coach said.
“He doesn’t worry about his last shot and doesn’t think about his next shot,” Evans explained. “He golfs in the moment and doesn’t get inside his head. He doesn’t have any errant shots and does a pretty good job in his short game.”
Senior Corbin Waite, Fallon’s No. 1 golfer, carded an 86, four stroke higher than at the first tournament in Dayton. Waite said he struggled off the tee, but was able to keep a low score thanks to his short game.
He said his performance was “decent,” but said he has high hopes he will return to the form he has grown accustom to.
“I saved my score with my short game,” Waite added. “I have been getting a lot of putts to fall for me. When I miss the green with my second shot, I have been chipping it pretty close.”
After two tournaments, Plasse and Waite sit in second and third, respectively, to make the state cut.
However, Evans is confident his club can turn the corner in the final six tournaments. Collectively, Fallon has yet to string together consistent rounds from its team.
Senior Jeff Evett, who qualified for the state tournament last season, is working through his kinks and shot a 96. Kelvin Cann is showing signs of improvement and carded a 95, while Dylan Kaady came in with a 106.
Kaady, Jake Kirsch and Nick Smith are battling for the No. 5 slot and have the ability to score in the 90s.
But Evans stressed his club has the potential to trim its scores and battle with Spring Creek, Truckee and Elko for a top three place. Only the top three teams qualify for state, while the top five individuals from non-qualifying teams earn a berth.
“We’re going to keep working on our short game,” Evans said. “There are lots of strokes to be found there. That’s going to be our focus the next couple weeks — chipping and putting.”
As of Wednesday night, Fallon is tied with Lowry for fourth place with 11 points, while Spring Creek, Truckee and Elko are tied for first with 16.
Fallon, though, is on the cusp of breaking through. The Wave missed third place at Dayton by three strokes and were six strokes behind Spring Creek on Wednesday for third.
“We just need everybody to score on the same day,” Waite said. “We need to build up our confidence and have our team play all at once and not on different days.”
Those results give Evans confidence his team is on the edge. Evett’s opening round at Dayton was an aberration with a score of 102. He followed with a 96 and is more than capable of scoring in the 80s, as he did most of last season.
Although Fallon is grinding through its early season hiccups, the Wave will have about one month off before returning to the course in Elko. Fallon visits Elko on April 16 and is at Spring Creek on April 17.
“Now are practices can be tailored to each individual,” Evans said. “Collectively, our chipping and putting, our short game, we are going to spend a ton of time on that.”
The Wave began the preseason by winning the icebreaker tournament in Hawthorne and followed up with a fourth-place finish behind Elko at Dayton Country Club last week.
Spring Creek won the tournament with a 444 followed by Truckee (448), Elko (461) and Fallon (464).
Individually, senior Corbin Waite led the charge with an 81, good for third place and just seven strokes behind medalist Andrew Medoza of Lowry and one behind Truckee’s Cody Tilton.
In addition, Raymond Plasse carded an 82 for fourth place, while Kelvin Cann was 19th (93), Jeff Evett finished 29th (102) and Nick Smith was 35th (106). First alternate Mike Richards II was 36th (107), but only the top five scores are calculated in the team result.