Stratton solid for Cougars

After bogeying the first two holes of the tough front nine at Anthem Country Club in Monday's Sunrise Region golf tournament, Coronado junior Kevin Stratton found himself a bit rattled.

He had to settle himself, regain his composure and fix his jitters.

So he took out his pencil, and gave himself a little pick-me-up.

"After starting off bogey-bogey, I wrote a quote in my yardage book: 'Just stay confident, play to your abilities. Don't play stupid golf, play smart golf,' " Stratton said. "And with the par-5s, I didn't get stupid."

Stratton went on to shoot 2-under par for the rest of the round, winning medalist honors with an even-par 72. As the day wore on, Stratton got stronger, with a beautiful approach on the 18th hole that led to an easy birdie putt.

With the wind picking up around the 17th tee -- a hole he eventually converted for par -- Stratton settled in on his home course, ignoring the gusts and the crowd and the nerves slowly creeping in.

"I just sort of stuck to my preshot routine, even if I got nervous," Stratton said. "I've never really been in contention, but I've been around it, so I wasn't really that nervous."

Said Cougars coach Joe Sawaia: "We've worked on attitude a lot. It's not how big the moment is or making it bigger than it is, it's, 'OK, I've got to pick my target, I've got to do my routine and I've got to execute.' All those clichés you hear in golf, they're all right."

The work paid off in a big way for Coronado.

The Cougars' top-five finishers scored 376 -- none lower than Stratton's 72, none higher than Blake Lederman's 79, 20 shots under their average -- far outdistancing Green Valley (417) and Las Vegas (449).

Sawaia said playing at Anthem certainly helped Coronado, but not as much as one might think -- and Gators coach Greg Murphy agreed.

"We're pleased we had it here, but we played well -- whether it was here or anywhere," Sawaia said. "With our mind-set and our short game and our attitude, we would've played well anywhere.

"That 187 we shot on the front (nine), we've played here for seven years and never shot that."

Said Murphy: "It's a home-course advantage, but we knew that going in. Still, to shoot those kind of numbers in a regional championship is lights out. We had to play lights out to beat them and they had to have a bad day -- and they didn't have a bad day, that's for sure."

Contact reporter Jon Gold at jgold@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.