Palo Verde hangs on to win 4A golf title

Dave Price

Friday, May 18, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

DAYTON -- With a solid lead in hand, coach Jeff Wolfram offered his Palo Verde boys golf team some simple advice as it headed into the final round of the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Tournament on Thursday.

"Fairways and greens," Wolfram said, flashing a smile.

The Panthers, aided by a hole in one by sophomore Jeremy Keller on No. 4, went out and took care of business with a solid round of 393 to wrap up the championship on a blustery day at Dayton Valley Golf Club.

As it turned out, the Panthers pretty much needed every shot to hold off the hard-charging Green Valley Gators in what developed into a duel between the champions of the Sunset and Sunrise regions.

Palo Verde finished with score of 767 score for the two-day, 36-hole event in the Panthers' first appearance at the state boys golf tournament. Green Valley rallied to secure the runner-up trophy with a 775 and Bonanza finished four shots behind the Gators in third.

Palo Verde led Bonanza by 12 shots at the end of Wednesday's opening round.

The title was a fitting finish to this season, according to Wolfram. "The kids have played great all year," he said. "They're good kids, coachable, they've done everything we've asked all year. It was tough on his course, with this wind, but the kids responded. They really came through."

Keller led the way by carding a 76 for the final round, highlighted by his hole in one.

"That was a perfect 8 iron," Keller said. "I've had three now, but I've never had one that was hit well. This one just kind of turned and backed up for me"

Keller, who shot even-par 36 over the front nine, said the goal on Thursday was to play mistake free.

"We were thinking, 'Don't do anything different than yesterday.' We didn't need to go for pins, we just wanted to go for the middle of greens and lay up on the par-5s," Keller said.

A mere four strokes separated Palo Verde's six players during the final round.

Green Valley was sixth -- 32 shots behind Palo Verde with a 406 score -- to start the day, but closed with a 369 to make the team race interesting.

"What a comeback," Wolfram said. "Those kids lit it up today."

Green Valley coach Del Sagers said he wasn't concerned about winning or losing at the start of the day. He just wanted the Gators to play to their potential.

"We knew destiny wasn't in our hands; Palo Verde is too solid of a team," Sagers said. "I just wanted them to put up a good number, and all six kids went out and played well. I was very pleased with their effort today.

"My hat's off to Palo Verde. They came out and put a solid round together yesterday," he added.

There was no lack of drama in a duel for individual medalist honors between a pair of Northern juniors -- Dustin Hall of Reed and Bryson Young of Galena. Hall shot back-to-back 1-under par rounds to finish at 142, one shot ahead of Young in a field that featured 13 of the top 20 finishers from last year's state tournament.

Young finished with a 5-under 67 final round, capped by a 90-yard sand wedge shot for an eagle on No. 17 and a birdie on No. 18.

Lowry's Ben Bryson won the individual title with an even-par 142, four strokes ahead of the field.