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Dynasty intact: The Meadows wins 5th straight title

Whittell stumbles to a third-place finish

By Jeremy Evans

Tribune staff writer



The Meadows’ golf dynasty continues after the Mustangs overcame an eight-stroke deficit at Whittell’s expense to win the 2A state tournament on Tuesday at Toana Vista Golf Course in West Wendover.

The Meadows won its fifth consecutive state golf title by finishing with a two-day total of 877 at the par-72 course in eastern Nevada. Tournament host West Wendover improved by 15 strokes from its first-round total on Monday to finish second at 885.



Whittell placed third with 889 strokes after starting Tuesday’s final round with an eight-stroke lead. The Warriors shot a tournament-best 432 on Monday, but their round of 457 on Tuesday was the second-highest score of the day.

“It was a big disappointment,” said WHS golf coach Steve Maltase, whose 2001 squad was the last team other than The Meadows to win state. “I don’t know what it was. All we needed to do was replicate our performance from the day before and we win by 13 strokes. Instead, we played worse.”

White Pine’s Shad Gale won individual medalist honors with his two-day total of 160 (78-82). Mountain View’s Khris Sorenson and The Meadows’ Kyle Ewing finished in a tie for third at 163.

Whittell’s Kirk Baines followed his first-round 86 on Monday with second-round 84 to finish in a tie for seventh place with The Meadows’ Jon Chino (170). Cody Harrington, whose tournament-best 79 led the Warriors to the Northern 2A regional title last Thursday, tied for 12th with a 174.

The Warriors’ Marty Rahbeck and Tyler Fairbank entered the final round in sixth and seventh place, respectively. But Rahbeck shot a 98 in the final round to finish in 22nd place (183), while Fairbank carded a 94 on Tuesday to finish in 20th (180).

Whittell’s Tim Lipovsky finished in a tie for 24th with Hawthorne’s Drew Scharr at 185. The Warriors’ John Szendrey had consistent rounds of 96-95 to finish in a tie for 30th at 191.

“Maybe they thought they had it … maybe they thought all they had to do was show up,” Maltase said of his players’ mindset entering the final round. “But it sounds like a lot of them were just hitting the ball in the desert. We had a bad day. We can’t really make any excuses.

“We’re not happy with third. Going into it, I would’ve been happy to take second. But since we were in position to win and we didn’t, it’s pretty disappointing.”


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