Clovis run at Ruidoso ends at four

RUIDOSO — Clovis senior Travis Reid made a late charge to earn his first tournament win of the season Tuesday at the Leroy Gooch Invitational golf tournament.

Reid birdied three of his last four holes, including No. 18, and shot a 1-over-par 73 at the Links at Sierra Blanca. His two-day total of 144 earned him a three-stroke win in the Class 4A-5A division over teammate Guillermo Chavez and a pair of Los Alamos golfers.

But the Hilltoppers ended Clovis’ string of four straight Leroy Gooch titles with another steady round in the two-day tournament.

Placing four golfers in the top 12, the defending Class 4A state champions finished with a two-day total of 601, which was 12 strokes better than the Wildcats.

Alamogordo was a distant third at 635.

Clovis coach George Simmons said Clovis made too many mental mistakes to make a run at Los Alamos, which took a 10-stroke lead into Tuesday’s second round.

“We just need to really concentrate on fixing some mistakes early and late in the rounds,” Simmons said. “They’re not necessarily physical mistakes. They’re mostly mental mistakes.”

The biggest problem was putting, Simmons said. The greens had been recently aerated.

“It’s frustrating when you put on greens like that that don’t roll true,” Simmons said. “Of course, everyone had to deal with it.

“But we just didn’t putt well this week.”

Reid rebounded from a 4-over front nine that included spraying a tee shot out of bounds.

“He kept his composure and some good things happened late in the round,” Simmons said.

Luke Tanner of Farmington shot the day’s best round of 4-under 68.

In Class 1A-3A division, Tate Nichols of Farwell won a three-hole playoff.

Nichols and Pat Smith of Mesilla Valley Christian School finished tied at 150.

In the girls 4A-5A division, Goddard breezed to the title with a 22-stroke victory over Carlsbad.

With two golfers in the top five, the Lady Rockets completed two rounds at Cree Meadows Country with a score of 717.

Clovis improved its score by 19 strokes but couldn’t budge out of ninth place.

Tiffany Reid led Clovis on Tuesday with a 99.

“We came out more relaxed and played better,” Clovis girls coach Jeff Fontanilla said. “The girls hit the ball as well as anybody. But we need to work on our putting.”

Fontanilla figured each of his five players three-putted between 15 and 20 times in the 36-hole tournament.