Reno’s Joe Peroglio rides hot start to state senior title

Technically, it’s not possible to win a golf tournament after just 10 holes. But for all intents and purposes, that’s exactly what Joe Peroglio did last week at the Nevada State Senior Championship.

Playing the difficult Red Hawk Golf Resort in Sparks, a course so challenging that only five players would finish under par for the tournament, Peroglio found himself 7 under after his first 10 holes. It was a lead he would never relinquish on his way to his first major amateur title.

“I was just feeling it that day,” Peroglio said of his opening-round 64. “It was just one of those days where everything was going right.”

The Reno resident finished the event at 8-under 208, five shots better than Jed Shreve and Brady Exber.

After a second-round 69 — once again the low round of the day — Peroglio took a seven-shot lead into the final round. That kind of spooked him. “I’ve never played with such a big lead before,” he said.

While he won’t say panic set in, three bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine certainly ended any thoughts of an easy stroll to the title.

Unlike the first day, when he said his playing partners were “super cool” and helped him relax into a great round, that wasn’t the case in the final round.

“It was a very somber front nine,” he recalled. “I was playing so poorly I don’t think anyone wanted to talk to me.”

As he stepped to the 16th tee, his lead was down to two over Exber, one of the most honored amateurs in Nevada golf history.

“I was aware of the situation, and I just hung in there,” Peroglio said. “I handled the pressure and nerves.”

Playing in a big amateur event is something new for Peroglio, who regained his amateur status last July. He had been in the PGA apprentice program with his eye on a career in golf, but he gave that up. PGA pros do a lot of work and play little golf, he said, so he chose to walk away.

Now 50, he delivers pizzas to support himself while working on his game when he can. He has his sights set on the Northern Nevada Championship at the end of August, the Brooks Park Matches in October and the Nevada Men’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur championships in 2021.

“I’m really proud to win this event,” he said, calling it the second biggest win of his life.

The top honor goes to a win in 2013 at a Players Golf Tour mini-tour event in Reno, where he won with this daughter as his caddie. That’s a memory that will be hard to top, he said, “but this is a strong No. 2.”

Despite being new to amateur golf, Peroglio said he went into the week expecting to win.

“I think I was just oblivious to the magnitude of it,” he said.

Chip Shots

— Jack Trent, a senior at UNLV and a graduate of Palo Verde High School, made it to the round of 32 at last week’s U.S. Amateur. The Australia native tied for 30th at 1-under 142 in stroke play to make the 64-player field, then won his opening match 3 and 2 over Jackson Suber. He fell 3 and 2 in the next round to Cameron Sisk. Trent was part of a Nevada group that included Reno’s Charles Osborne, who lost in a dramatic 36-hole final.

— Jim Delaney, director of golf at Southern Highlands GC, tied for second at last week’s Southwest PGA Senior Championship in Phoenix, falling one-shot shy of winner Bill Dodd Jr. The finish earned him a spot in the Senior PGA Professional Championship in October in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Troy Helseth of Anthem Country Club in Henderson tied for ninth, two strokes shy of qualifying for the Florida event.

— Las Vegan Danielle Kang came within one shot of a playoff and her third consecutive victory on the LPGA Tour on Sunday at the Ladies Scottish Open. The last LPGA player to win three straight events was Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. Kang is clearly among the favorites at this week’s Women’s British Open, the women’s first major of 2020.

— Jeff Isoda of the 1967 Club scored 40 points in the Stableford Scoring System to capture the Cascata Amateur Championship title Sunday at Cascata Golf Club in Boulder City. Kamden Ganir (Angel Park GC) was second and Andrew Moore (Paiute GC) was third.

Greg Robertson is a freelance reporter who covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at robertsongt@gmail.com