Churchill County controls 3A golf meet; Virgin Valley 20 strokes back in third

Churchill County's Matt Vanderbeek shot even-par 72 on Monday at Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno to lead the Greenwave to the opening-round lead at the Class 3A state golf tournament.

Churchill County shot 403 as a team to take a 15-stroke lead over Lowry heading into today's final round.

Virgin Valley was third at 423 and Elko fourth at 432.

The field will have much work to do to catch Vanderbeek, who has a seven-stroke lead heading into today's round.

Moapa Valley's Cody Kelly, Dayton's Michael Peterson, Churchill County's Aaron Evett, Virgin Valley's Kaden Atkin and Lowry's Dillon Bryan each shot 79 on Monday.

Southern League individual champ Ryan Baeza of Virgin Valley shot 81 to tie for seventh.

Virgin Valley's Tyler Hughes shot 84, and teammate Brandon Cohen shot 86.

The tournament continues at 7:30 a.m. today.

CLASS 2A

Whittell took a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Class 2A state tournament at Genoa Lakes Golf Course in Genoa. Whittell shot 422, with Sage Ridge second at 423.

North Tahoe is third at 430 and Lake Mead fourth at 460. Class 2A Southern League champion Needles, Calif., is sixth in the team standings at 477.

Mineral County's Foster Kenton shot 3-over 75 to take the individual lead.

Lake Mead's Quayd Brooks (82) was the top Southern Nevada golfer, in 13th place. Teammates Victor Banos and L.J. Yamzon shot 83 and 84, respectively.

The final round is at noon today.