Carson wins own tournament for second time in 11 years

Carson boys golf coach Paul Croghan was hoping his team would peak at the right time going into the zone and, perhaps, even state playoffs. Thursday afternoon might have gone a long way in doing just that.

The Senators won the 11th Annual Dick Stoddard Memorial Carson Invitational with a two-day total of 762, including a sub-400 team score in the final round on the west course at Eagle Valley Golf Course.

"It's nice to win this on my farewell tour," said Croghan, who will retire from Carson High after the season. "We haven't won this thing in the last four or five years. These guys got some confidence, especially after responding to how Laguna Creek was playing. This is the right time to get some momentum. Breaking 400 (team total) on the west course, I'm very happy with that."

It was only the second time Carson has won its own tournament. Laguna Creek was atop the leader board after firing a 364 on the east course on Wednesday, but started the second round just one shot in front of Carson.

Croghan believes the Senators' 365 on the east course Wednesday broke a school record for that course. Fortunately, though, they didn't have to duplicate that since Laguna Creek struggled on the more difficult west course. It shot a 418 on the west course and ended up with a two-day total 782, good for a second-place tie with Eureka.

Carson's Tim Hohl took fourth place individual honors with a two-day total of 147. He followed up Wednesday's round of 1-under 71 with a 4-over 76. Fallon's Brody Hammon won medalist honors by shooting 70-73 to finish the tournament at 1-under. Tom Bingham of Laguna Creek and Kevin O'Brien of Deer Valley finished in a tie for second with a score of 146.

"That's better than I expected, actually," Hohl said of his fourth-place finish. "Everything was going really well. I had a couple of bad holes in a row but it (the west course) is just a difficult course."

Hohl played hole Nos. 14, 15 and 16 at 4-over, but was solid other than that. His teammates were just as impressive.

J.T. Cockerill and Andrew Meyer both shot 80 on Thursday to finish with a total of 153 and 154, respectively. Steve McQuirk had Carson's second best score on Thursday, a 5-over 77 on the west course to finish with a two-day total of 157.

Carson's second team, led by Tyson Roser, finished in eighth place. The Senators' third team finished 12th out of 15 teams. Roser, who fired a 1-over 73 on Wednesday, shot an 88 in the second round to finish with a 161.

"I got to play 18 guys and that's a good thing," Croghan said. "Most of them don't get to play in two-day tournaments like this, so this gives them some good experience. It also gives us another opportunity to play a two-day tournament because that what zone and state is."

Hohl, though, doesn't put a lot of emphasis on this tournament win. While obviously it was nice to win it, he still realizes the obstacle in front of Carson at the zone tournament is a formidable one.

"We played a lot easier teams today than we do in our league season," Hohl said. "When we play Galena, they kill us, like they do everybody else. (But) I hope it gives us confidence."

Douglas finished in ninth place with a total of 832. The Tigers were led by Glenn Coleman, who shot 84-76 to finish with a 160.