SUNRISE REGION: McInerney, Cougars take first-round lead

A.J. McInerney fired a 3-under-par 69 to help Coronado take a 29-stroke lead after the first round of the Sunrise Region tournament at Stallion Mountain.

The Cougars were 6-over as a team, posting a 366.

“We had real balanced scoring,” Coronado coach Joe Sawaia said. “A.J. kind of set the tone with a nice 3-under. He made one bad swing that cost him a double bogey; otherwise it could have been better.”

Foothill was second at 395, with Green Valley third at 403.

Silverado’s Josh Fisher was second individually at 72. Coronado’s Matt Welch and Bradley Keyer each shot 73 to tie with Foothill’s Taylor Montgomery for third.

All six of Coronado’s golfers were in the top 10, with Kabir Nanar shooting 74, and Andrew Chu and Kenden Slattery each shooting 77.

“We have really good players,” Sawaia said. “We have for quite some time now. It’s not a really shockingly low round for us. Some of them left disappointed. Matt and Bradley, who shot 73, they could have really had a good low one today, something under par. I saw them both miss some really makeable 3-footers. But it happened to everybody. It was tough going on the greens.

“We’ve got some really good players, and they work at it extremely hard and they’re going to play good because they’re good. We’re going to enjoy it while we can.”

Both meets conclude with the final round at Mountain Falls in Pahrump.