Rowley takes third in Roswell

ROSWELL— Despite going quintuple-bogey on a hole during Monday’s portion of the Spring Classic at Roswell, Portales senior Bailey Rowley finished the two-day event in third place, and led Portales with a score of 159.

Rowley finished the second day with a 78 with sophomore Janae Hale shooting an 89 for a two-day total of 179. Both scores were good enough to qualify as legs and as a team, the Lady Rams shot 392.

“Bailey had a great two days,” girls coach Charity Gomez said. “She had one bad hole yesterday. If we could eliminate that one hole she probably would have won the tournament. But it’s good because we play at Spring River again for district which is what we played (on Monday).”

Even without another tournament win, Chavez was proud of Rowley’s overall effort.

“Bailey’s playing really good right now,” she said. “If she didn’t have a nine on that (par 4) — even if she had bogeyed that hole, you take four shots off and she’s at a 77 or 76, which is really good. I think it’s a good starting off point for district and for state.”

Rowley wasn’t the only player who Gomez praised from her team as sophomore Kaitlynne Underbrink shot a 96 for a two-day total of 199.

“Kaitlynne shot her best round since I’ve been around,” Chavez said. “She broke a hundred, which is really good for her. Janae is back under 90, which is a goal we have. We know that Kam(brey Blakey) is capable of shooting under 100, she’s just had a bad couple of days. We feel if we all improve we can be competing for a district title and to place at state for sure. It’s exciting to see where these girls are at.”

For the boys, junior Thomas Tulk led his team with an 81 and juniors Andrew Underbrink were right behind each shooting 82. Senior Zach Newberry shot an 86, for a one-shot improvement from Monday and sophomore Austin David shot an 88. As a team, the Rams shot 331.

“We have a lot of work before state but I’m confident we’ll get there,” boys coach Matt Hunton said of his team’s performance.

The Rams ‘next match will be on April 28 in Hobbs.