Two Camp Verde High School sophomores shot state qualifying scores, but it was Sedona Red Rock High School’s golf team that shot an overall qualifying score in their season opener March 4 at Verde Santa Fe Golf Course.
Vance Tewawina finished with a 3-over-par 39 while fellow sophomore Joel Beauty went 4-over-par with a 40 to post their first of five required qualifying scores for the Division III tournament and take the first of five steps toward Head Coach Chris Fuller’s stated goal of qualifying at least two golfers for the Division III tournament.
“It’s very exciting to have two qualifiers the first match,” Fuller said. “Last year, I don’t think we had one qualifying round.
“There is, I think, great potential because both of these kids are sophomores.”
The Cowboys, however, would post a 175 on the day — 11 strokes short of the team qualifying mark and 20 strokes out of first place, a 155 shot by SRRHS, all on the front nine holes.
“Camp Verde is showing tremendous improvement as well,” said Scorpions head golf coach Dennis Mobley, who had three golfers shoot a 40 or better March 4. “We played each other in our second match last season — we had a 178 and Camp Verde had a 199 — so we’re both playing much better than a year ago.”
A third high school competing with the Cowboys and Scorpions on March 4 was Bagdad, which managed a 200 despite only sending four golfers to Verde Santa Fe, none of whom would end up shooting a 40 or better. Junior Tyler Leland came the closest with a 41 for the Sultans.
“You don’t need to shoot that individually if you qualify as a team for State,” Mobley said. “So we’re very hopeful we can make it as a team.”
Cowboys seniors Jayson Presmyk and Zac Trinidad had scores of 44 and 57 with junior Bodie Holowell adding a 49 for CVHS.
“A couple of our kids have been sick, but Bodie Holowell and Brett Worth, if they could continue to work on their game, they could qualify in some matches,” Fuller said.
The Arizona Interscholastic Association, in lieu of sectionals for golf, requires all teams and individuals to shoot qualifying scores in at least five different matches during the course of the season. This is a system which has been in place since Fuller started coaching golf at CVHS in 2011, but not every coach is happy with it.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, March 12, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
