SUNRISE GOLF: Cougars battle conditions, hang on for seventh title in eight seasons
Coronado boys golf coach Joe Sawaia zoomed between the ninth and 10th holes at windy Reflection Bay Golf Club with a message for his players.
“I tried to get a hold of every kid and just tell them, ‘Hey, everybody’s struggling. As bad as it seems, everybody’s struggling,’ ” Sawaia said. “And we were able to kind of maintain that lead we had to start the day.”
Coronado placed three golfers in the top seven and closed the back nine with a flourish despite difficult conditions to take the team title at the Division I Sunrise Region tournament Wednesday.
The top two teams and the top five individuals from nonqualifying teams advance to the Division I state tournament, which starts Monday at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno.
The Cougars, who earned their seventh championship in the past eight seasons, finished with a two-round total of 813 to beat Green Valley by 12 shots. The Gators (825) edged Foothill (829) for the final berth at state by four shots.
“It was tough out there,” Sawaia said. “I’m just real proud of them for hanging in there. They never really gave up and relinquished the lead and just kept playing and just kept grinding away.”
Foothill’s Andrew Chu claimed Sunrise medalist honors after finishing second in the past two region tournaments. The senior, who posted an opening-round 65 at DragonRidge, grinded his way to a 78 but still won by 12 shots over Las Vegas’ Trey Jensen.
“I’m happy that I got to close it out my senior year,” Chu said. “I’m just a little bummed that our team didn’t make it to state. That’s what I was mostly going for, so it’s a bittersweet moment.”
Chu was 5 over at the turn and bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11, but he birdied both of the par 5s on the back nine, including No. 18. Chu finished the tournament at 1-under 143.
“I think I figured out how to be more calm on the back (nine),” Chu said. “I started swinging easier, and I hit more greens.”
Jensen posted the region’s best round of the day on the 6,682-yard layout that hosted President Obama in November with a 73 and ended at 11-over 155. Basic’s James Ebert shot 81 and was third at 12 over.
Coronado did not have a player break 80, and shot 425 as a team. Jalen Hodges of Coronado shot 82 and tied for fourth at 14-over 158 with Green Valley’s Mason Comastro. Grant McKay (85) and Aaron Knief (83) were sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Cougars at 159 and 161.
Hodges played the final two holes in 2 over as the wind whipped off Lake Las Vegas. Hayden Baird parred the final five holes for Coronado, while McKay finished with four straight pars and Travis Dickens also parred Nos. 16, 17 and 18. Knief, meanwhile, had pars on five of the final six holes.
“I think if you look at that compared to the rest of the field, they had to gain some strokes,” Sawaia said. “The conditions were very, very difficult. I think our guys were struggling through the middle part of the front nine. They kind of hung in there and they all played better on the back.”