Coronado survives conditions to claim 2nd straight golf state title
Course conditions were far from optimal as Coronado’s boys golf team set out to defend its Class 5A state championship.
After a day of wind in Monday’s opening round, golfers competed with rain and hail in the second round. But the Cougars stayed calm and prevailed to earn their second consecutive title.
Coronado finished at 27-over 603 to claim the championship by nine strokes over Bishop Gorman at Red Hawk Golf and Resort in Sparks.
“It was a grind out there,” Coronado coach Rusty Andersen said. “It’s hard to win when you’re the favorite, but I knew we were capable and we just had to go out and earn it.”
Andrew Stout of Shadow Ridge claimed the individual title, shooting 2-under 70 Tuesday to finish at 2-over 146 for a three-stroke victory over Coronado’s Brock Walters, Gorman’s Colby Hutton and McQueen’s Zach Petersen.
Gorman finished second in last year’s team race by a single stroke. Andersen said his team learned from that experience.
“Last year we kind of stole it,” he said. “This year we were more methodical. We handled business and didn’t build a big hole.”
All four of Coronado’s scoring golfers finished in the top nine — Walters (5 over), Brent Chung (6 over), Anderson Lee (8 over) and Eli Marshall (8 over).
“I’m so happy for Brock,” said Andersen, who noted that Walters finished the front nine with a bogey and a double bogey Tuesday before recovering for a flawless back nine. “He fought some things with his swing this year, so it was good to see things come together in the state tournament.”
Shadow Ridge finished third in team play (51 over), putting all three Southern Region teams ahead of their Northern counterparts. Southern golfers took eight of the top 10 individual spots.