Winds break area’s best

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.

So much for windbreaks and an easier course.

Gusts approaching 50 mph raked the par 72 Legacy Golf Club Monday, humbling some of the Sunset Region's best individual golfers while at the same time sending undefeated Bishop Gorman home empty-handed.

Not one golfer broke par at the one-day tournament. Centennial junior Taylor Reardon shot under par on the front nine, holding on for a score of 74 and a one-stroke win for the Sunset title.

"I knew I had it in me," Reardon said. "I focused and gave it everything I had."

Reardon, who wasn't even one of the top five golfers in his division in the regular season, but came away with the medalist title just two years after he seriously took up the game of golf.

Until then, he'd always played second base on various baseball teams.

"I would go out and Happy Gilmore it, but I knew it was what I wanted to do," he said.

His dad, Kent, golfed for Rancho in a year that the Rams qualified for the state tournament. Taylor said his dad talked him into spending more time working on golf.

"He said it would last my whole life," Taylor said.

He said that playing at the Bulldogs' home course helped him prepare for Monday's windy conditions.

"We play out at Paiute, and I work out at Silverstone," he said. "People want to fight it. I let the wind take care of it, not try to fight it."

State champion Bonanza will get to defend its 2004 title as it won the Sunset Region with a team score of 397, despite defending state individual champion Aaron Slonim shooting a 77.

"Our four, five and six guys came in and saved it for us," Bengals coach Dan Wieser said. "It's great if you can get a 78 out of your sixth man (Zach Swarts). I'm real, real proud. Our fifth guy (Patrick Coffey) shot a 79."

Slonim said he had to mentally prepare for the tougher conditions.

"I came in with the mindset that a 75 was a good score out here," he said. "We knew it could be tough, people would be shooting high."

He said that he also struggled on the greens, making 39 putts Monday.

Palo Verde finished in second place for the third consecutive year, shooting a team score of 403 to earn a trip to next week's two-day state tournament at Sparks' Red Hawk Golf Course.

Bishop Gorman, which went 9-0 on the year and had some of the best individual finishes in the regular season, was left in the cold, shooting 410 as a team. No Gaels golfers qualified for the state tournament individually.

Durango's Joey Wattoo (75), Sierra Vista's Tatsuro Oshimoto (76), Shadow Ridge's Christopher Plappert and Spring Valley's Jeremy Power (both 77) qualified as individuals for the state tournament, along with Reardon.