Carr stuns field, himself with lead

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

Nobody expected Dennis Carr to be leading after the first round of the NIAA 4A state golf championship -- especially not Dennis Carr.

Carr, a senior from Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, shot 1-under 71 Monday, leading the statewide field through 18 of 36 holes at the Aliante Golf Club in North Las Vegas. Until early Monday, Carr had never been in Southern Nevada, much less golfed at Aliante. Yet he led a field that generally struggled with high scores at the newer course.

He said he played poorly through the whole season, then barely qualified for the state tournament, shooting a 158 in the two-round Northern regional, 10 behind leader Dan Wittlinger of Galena.

"It's a little weird; I didn't play well all year, and now it's finally coming together," Carr said. "My scores through the whole year were really (poor) until the last day of zone. I just stepped it up and shot good."

His coach, Kelly Miller, said Carr didn't really turn it around until working with one of the pros at a local golf course. Miller said Carr's success is probably more of a surprise to Carr than anyone.

For his part, Carr said his goal is to stay focused through today's second round, which was scheduled to start at noon.

"I'm just trying to stay focused and not get ahead of myself," he said. "I don't want to think about what I could do, just take it one shot at a time."

Monday's breezy conditions led to some very high scores, topped by Churchill County's Charlie Lockwood, who shot a 99. The low teams through the first round were Las Vegas' Bonanza and Palo Verde, which shot 384 and 386, respectively. The top northern team, Galena, shot a 398, and Henderson's Coronado High trailed Galena by one stroke.

Sunrise winner Green Valley, a team that last Wednesday shot a 382 at Siena Country Club, had a score of 406, one stroke ahead of Churchill County High School from Fallon.

Bonanza's Joe Wieser finished the first round in second, two strokes behind Carr with a 1-over 73.

Bengals coach Dan Wieser said his team's lead was far too close for comfort heading into today's play.

"Two shots is nothing. We're just going to have to do a little better than we did today; if we can get all our scores into the 70s, we'll be fine," he said. "Basically, we have to putt a little better. Overall, the kids hit the ball real well."

Green Valley's high score was the surprise of the day. Sunrise medalist Adam Tebbs shot an 80, characterizing the tough afternoon the Gators had.

Green Valley coach Del Sagers said the added stress of contending for a state title might have affected his players.

"I thought we'd do a little better today, but that's this game," he said. "It's state, there's a lot of pressure; they just didn't play well today."