Hartman, Lady Rams finish fourth at Hobbs

HOBBS — Except for senior Paige Hartman, everybody else on the Portales High girls golf team had a pretty average day in Tuesday's Hobbs Invite.

Hartman, though, ran away with individual honors, shooting 40-36 — 76 to finish seven shots ahead of runnerup Salam Ortiz of Hobbs and lift the Lady Rams to a fourth-place finish in an eight-team field.

The PHS boys, meantime, shot 329 and were sixth out of seven squads. Hobbs beat Clovis 307-313 for boys team honors while CHS returned the favor on the girls side, the Lady Wildcats winning at 364 to 365 for the Lady Eagles.

Despite struggling a bit with two bogeys on the final three holes, Hartman had plenty to hold off the field. Freshman Bailey Rowley was next for PHS with a 94.

"If we can just do that in the (District 3-1A/3A) tournament, and maybe have Bailey come down into the 80s, we can win it," PHS girls coach Loy Hampton said.

Senior Jackson Powers and eighth-grader Andrew Underbrink each shot personal-best 79s for the Rams, who earned their first leg of the season toward state competition. All five PHS players shot 90 or less.

"They played good," Rams coach Keith Durham said. "We're just trying to get three legs so we can go to (the state meet at) Socorro."

While the girls have already qualified for state as a team, the boys either need to get legs today in today's Lovington Invitational or Friday Last Chance Open at New Mexico Military in Roswell to qualify, or else win next week's district tournament, also at NMMI.