STATE GOLF: Magruder plays bogey-free round to rally for title

Not even darkness could keep Faith Lutheran’s Charlie Magruder from making par on Thursday.

Magruder played a bogey-free round with two birdies at Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump to come from behind and win the Division I-A tournament, which became a 17-hole final after a bizarre finish.

“Right from the beginning I was feeling good, just going on to the range,” Magruder said. “After my first hole, I knew I was hitting my irons and wedges really well. It was just going to come down to putting.”

Magruder entered the final round six shots behind Moapa Valley’s Jacob Causey, but made two birdies on the front nine and took control. It was a reversal of last week’s Division I-A Southern Region tournament when the freshman saw a four-shot lead slip away in the second round.

“As soon as I reached 2 under going out after nine, the wind started picking up and I just started playing defensive golf, really just trying to get on the green and two-putt,” Magruder said. “That was the whole goal today.”

Magruder was credited with a 70 on Thursday, which included a tap-in for par on the final hole with several tournament officials holding cellphones and flashlights on the green so he and the other competitors could see the hole.

Faith Lutheran finished with a total of 804 to win the team title by five shots over Lowry, which led by 13 strokes after the opening round. Trenton May and A.J. Johnson finished tied for eighth to give the Crusaders three top-10 finishers.

Boulder City was third at 837.

The final two foursomes played the 18th hole in near darkness, leading to all sorts of problems. Seven of the eight players completed their rounds, but Boulder City’s Luke Logan, the defending champion, declined to finish after he said he was unable to see the hole.

Officials and coaches met for more than 15 minutes to come up with a solution before finally voting to throw out the final hole.

Logan, who struggled for most of the day, was credited with a 76 and finished second. Causey was credited with an 87 after an opening-round 71 and finished fifth.

Magruder birdied both of the par 5s on the front nine and finished with 11 straight pars, including a chip-in on No. 11. On No. 17, Magruder got up and down from the sand, curling in a tricky downhill putt with darkness descending.

“It was pretty much a sigh of relief,” Magruder said. “I couldn’t really read it that much. I knew it was going to break quite a bit left. I just figured keep it high and give it a chance, and it happened to drop in.”

In Division III, Chris Young of White Pine won the individual title with a two-day total of 149, holding off Mitchell Cornell of Incline by one stroke. Needles shot 841 to take the team title by 26 strokes over Battle Mountain.