Pahrump Valley golfers far ahead of Sunset League competition
The Pahrump Valley boys golf team is again storming through the Class 3A Sunset League.
The Trojans have won all four league matches convincingly, most recently a 79-stroke win over second-place Mojave on April 11 at The Club at Sunrise and a 61-stroke margin over that same Mojave team at Aliante.
And they piled up those margins despite having neither of the top two scores either day. Western’s Jared Smith shot even-par 72 at Sunrise and 76 at Aliante, followed by Marcus Mullins of Mojave both days.
After that, it was all Pahrump Valley.
“We should win the league unless something drastic happens,” Trojans coach Bob Hopkins said. “We’ve won all four league matches, which will qualify us for the regional tournament, and then qualify us for the state tournament.”
The Trojans roster includes only two seniors, Craig Moore and Mike McDougall, and Hopkins said they, along with Koby Lindberg, have been the most consistent performers this spring. “Some of our other kids, Trevyn (Wombaker), Kasey (Dilger), Ian (Kingsley), have been stepping up and playing well for us at times.”
At the April 11 match, McDougall shot an 87, including birdies on No. 4 and No. 13, to finish third, with Lindberg one shot back at 88 and Moore another shot back at 89. The Trojans’ dominance is reflected in the fact the next three golfers — Dilger at 94, Kingsley at 95 and Wombaker at 96 — also were from Pahrump Valley, which finished with 358 to Mojave’s 437.
It was more of the same the following week at Aliante, with the names in a slightly different order. After Smith and Mullins it was all Trojans. Moore and McDougall each shot 89 to tie for third, with Moore getting birdies on Nos. 5 and 18, and McDougall recording seven pars. This time it was Dilger right behind them with a 93, followed by Lindberg and Wombaker at 96.
“They’ve been getting better each match,” Hopkins said. “It seems like we don’t always have the same player shooting the low score, and they’ve counted quite a few different kids this year.”
The Trojans will have a busy schedule leading up to the May 7-8 regional tournament.
“This week we play a league match at Aliante on Wednesday,” Hopkins said. “Thursday we play Bishop Gorman at home in a dual. The following week, a Tuesday dual with Coronado at Reflection Bay. Our varsity will be playing their JV because they’re awful tough. Wednesday we have our last league match at Desert Pines, then Thursday we go to Boulder City and play a dual at Boulder Municipal.”
The two seniors were part of the Trojans team that took second in the Class 3A Southern Regional before placing fifth in the Class 3A state tournament a year ago. McDougall tied for 22nd at state, while Moore was 28th. This year, the state tournament is slated for Pahrump Valley’s home course, Mountain Falls.
Hopkins senses his team might be ready.
“They’re getting there,” he said. “Obviously, we’d like to have a couple of them in the 70s, but that hasn’t happened yet. They’ve all kind of shot a low round now and then, they just have to get 18 holes like that. All in all, they get better each week, which is our goal, and we’re just hoping that we can get into the regionals, get a feel for how it is, then get into the state tournament. Then we’ll have six of our top eight kids back for next year with tournament experience, that’s the main thing.”
Contact Sports Editor Tom Rysinski at trysinski@pvtimes.com On Twitter:@pvtimes
