Portales boys tied for first at state meet

Portales golf coach Matt Hunton was happy on Monday, but not thrilled.

The happy part resulted from his Rams ending the A-4A state tournament’s opening day in a first-place tie with Hope Christian. Hunton, though, was also somewhat even-keeled about the performance because it wasn’t his team’s best.

“We did OK,” he said of the Rams’ cumulative 348 score. “I know we can do better. Of course you’re happy coming out tied for first, especially when you know your team didn’t play great and is capable of more than what the scores showed. Overall, they did well. They just had too many big numbers today.”

Hunton says his golfers didn’t begin well at Canyon Club’s par-72 course in Albuquerque, but fortunately for them it didn’t portend what was to come.

“They did really well toward the end,” Hunton said. “Hope Christian had all of us beat; it was looking like we were going to be down about 15 or 18 shots going into (today’s final round), and we just kept going and ended up tied.”

Canyon Club can be a tricky course, but not impossible.

“I don’t know what the boys think; to me, it’s pretty evenly laid out,” Hunton said. “Both nines have really tough stretches of holes. The greens are really difficult to read, so that’s where they struggled. They didn’t putt badly, they just didn’t make those 5- to 10-footers that we normally make.”

Austin Davis was Portales’ low scorer at 81, tying him for fifth with Robertson’s Noah Gonzales and Dexter’s Tanner Hamill.

Valen Low was next for Portales with an 84, tying him for ninth with St. Michael’s’ Cameron Gonzales. Next for the Rams were Talon Payne (86, tied for 11th) and Nate Cota (97, 21st).

Taos’ Josh Lambro, Hope Christian’s Jacob Lucero and Cottonwood’s Alexander Moores are the boys tournament leaders, each with a 78.

Portales’ 348 total not only tied the Rams with Hope, but also put them five up on third-place Robertson. They can now start off fresh this morning, knowing they don’t have any holes to make up, at least initially.

“That’s the nice thing,” Hunton said. “We go into it wanting to win our group and here we are again, the last day of state tied. If we just win our group, we’ll win state.”

At the 6A tournament at Farmington’s par-72 Pinon Hills, Cleveland got off to scorching start, with three golfers — Alejandro Armijo (74), Enrique Armijo (76) and Lorne Fishburne (77) — shooting under 80, which helped the Storm to a second-place 328 after Day 1. They trail first-place Piedra Vista by eight strokes.

Clovis is a respectable third at 337. Kolt Bennett recorded the Wildcats’ low score of 80, tying him for 10th with La Cueva’s Casey Kozlowski. The Bears are fourth at 345.

Clovis’ Woody Casey was right behind with an 81, tying him for 12th with Piedra Vista’s Tyler Diehl and Quinn Yost.

Next for Clovis were Christian Fontanilla (87, tied for 18th) and David Maldonado (89, 22nd).

In the girls 6A competition, Clovis ended the day in fourth place (394) behind Cleveland (363), La Cueva (365) and Rio Rancho (392). That puts the Lady Wildcats just two strokes from a trophy, but it won’t be easy on Pinon Hills’ large greens and challenging slopes.

“This is the toughest walking course that the girls will ever play in high school,” Clovis girls coach Steve Speck said. “I was really proud of the girls because they fought through it.”

Logan Clayton was Clovis’ lowest-scoring golfer, shooting an 85. “That is a really good score on this course,” Speck said.

Sydni Hill was next for Clovis at 97, followed by Destiny Hodges (105) and Ashley Maldonado (107).

In the girls A-4A tournament back up at Canyon Club, Portales’ Janae Hale shot a 92, in fifth place behind Ruidoso’s Alexandra Michelena (80), St. Michael’s’ Carissa Padilla (87), Silver’s Chelsea Medina (89) and St. Mike’s’ Miguela Martinez (91).

“She was just a little bit off today,” Hunton said of Hale. “She wasn’t hitting her driver like she can and she missed a few short putts that she normally makes.”

Still, she’s just five shots out of second place.

Texico’s girls team is in fourth place with a 425 score, behind Hope Christian (404), Socorro (413) and St. Michael’s (414).

The Lady Wolverines’ top four golfers were: Sarah Harrison (98), Grace McDaniel (101), Macey Tharp (111) and Kaytlyn Queener (115).