Senators party like it's 1999

SPARKS - For the first time since 1999, Carson High School has qualified as a team for the 4A boys state golf tournament.

Led by Kevin Goles and Zack Rispin, the Senators fired a second-day 406 Tuesday afternoon at Red Hawk to finish the 36-hole event with an 814 and a second-place finish to pre-tournament favorite Spanish Springs, which shot a sizzling 758.

The Senators and Spanish Springs squads will represent Northern Nevada at next week's tournament (Monday and Tuesday) at Sommersett Country Club in Reno.

Goles struggled on the back, but still shot a 79 and finished in a tie for second individually. Rispin bounced back from a first-day 83 to shoot 76 and finished sixth individually. Jon Singer finished with 82, Isaac Holt 84, Sam Staub 89 and Levi Taylor 85.

"Obviously it's a great thing," Carson coach Rod Butler said. "This is huge. I didn't know how we would do this season after losing four guys. We didn't close well at the end. We came up with some double and triple bogeys and made it look a lot closer at the end than it should have been.

"Kevin had a couple of big numbers (on the back) and I know he got frustrated at times, but he held it together. You expect your lead-off guy to shoot in the 70s, and he did that twice."

Goles, who struggled on the front nine on Monday, shot an even-par 36 Tuesday.

He strung together five straight birdies to open his round, including a 10-footer to save par on the second hole and a nice chip to save par on the fourth, a difficult 201-yard par-3.

On No. 6, a water-lined 505-yard par-5, Goles hit a tremendous tee shot down the right side, leaving himself a middle-iron to the green which was protected by water. Goles flew the green and ended up on a hill. He hit a poor chip which ended up going into the water. After taking a penalty stroke, he chipped onto the green and drained a 10-footer for bogey.

He two-putted for par on the 389-yard par-4 seventh, parred eight and then birdied No. 9 to get back to level par.

Goles, who shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine Monday, struggled to a 43 on Tuesday.

He four-putted on No.10 for a double bogey, but bounced back with a nice birdie on No. 11, a 392-yard par-4. On the par-3 12th, Goles hit his tee shot left of the green, hit a flop shot onto the green, but then three-putted for a 5.

On the 300-yard 13th, Goles drove the green but again three-putted and had to settle for a par. He three-putted for bogey on the par-4 14th. After a par on No. 15, Goles drained a 25-footer for birdie on No. 15.

Goles ran into trouble again on No. 17, a par-3. He played three balls while he awaited a ruling. It was eventually ruled that his tee shot had gone out of bounds, and he finished with a triple-bogey 6. On his final hole, he snap-hooked his drive into the hazard, but still saved par with a 15-foot putt.

"I missed six putts of 5-feet or less," Goles said. "If I had been able to make them, I had a chance to go real low.

"I had to stay in there mentally because I knew the team was depending on me."

And how. Given all the trouble that Goles had on the back nine, it would have been easy to have a massive meltdown.

Rispin, who finished with an 83 on Monday despite not playing well, shot a 4-over-par 76.

"It was just getting the ball to the green and being able to two-putt," Rispin said when asked the difference between the two rounds. "I hit better approach shots today."

"He (Rispin) had a huge finish," Butler said. "He played the last four holes 2-under-par. He had three birdies and a bogey on the final four holes. He was sixth overall, which is just outstanding."

Rispin recorded four birdies and just one double-bogey.

Rispin birdied the opening hole when he put a lob wedge within 5 feet of the cup and drained the putt.

He drained a 5-foot putt for birdie on No. 15, and he chipped to within a foot of the cup for a tap-in birdie on the par-5 16th. After a bogey on the par-3 17th, Rispin chipped in from off the green on No. 18.

The big surprise might have been the play of Singer, who shaved two strokes off his first-day 84 and shot 82, the third-best score on the team.

"He's the perfect 82 player," Butler said. "He goes out there and grinds from the first tee shot to the last putt.

"He needs a little more distance and a little more confidence in himself, and he's a 70s player."

Butler said that Holt had a decent round going until he finished with a triple and double-bogey on the final two holes.