Tebbs keeps cool in wintry weather at state meet

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

Brutal.

That's the word used most often to describe the conditions at Monday's opening-round action of the 4A state golf tournament at the Resort at Red Hawk in Sparks.

"It was nasty, there was sleet, there was rain, it blew maybe 30 or 40 miles per hour ..." Palo Verde coach Jeff Wolfram said.

"It was the worst I've ever seen anybody try to play golf in," Sierra Vista coach Larry Goins said, "and I grew up in South Dakota."

"It was the worst conditions I've ever played or seen anywhere, 100 percent the worst ever," Green Valley golfer Adam Tebbs said. "I've never been so cold on a golf course."

Through all that, though, Tebbs was able to pull off a 2-over-par 74, two strokes ahead of Sierra Vista's Tatsuro Oshimoto for the individual lead. Green Valley has a four-stroke lead ahead of Palo Verde in the team standings.

"I stayed focused, really," Tebbs said. "I knew it was going to bother everybody. I wasn't the only one who had to deal with it. I survived."

Everybody also had to deal with the 17th hole at Red Hawk's Lakes Course, a par-3 with an island green. And on Monday, the hole was directly upwind from the tee.

Tebbs hit into the bunker and ended with a bogey. Others fared worse.

"(Bonanza's) Aaron Slonim for example was 15 feet above the pin and three-putted for a bogey," Goins said. "Tebbs was in the bunker behind and chipped out and two-putted for a bogey. They're all in the same group. I don't know of anybody that played it better than (Reno's Jared) Becher, (who) parred it in that group."

Becher and Bishop Manogue's Luke Scott are the top Northern individuals, both at 77.

Today's forecast for Sparks is slightly better, with highs in the 70s but winds gusting to 40 mph.

"Hopefully things work out for us tomorrow," Wolfram said. "We've been in this situation the last five years. The kids know how it goes."

Coaches' association president Darwin Rost said Eldorado receiver Davell Jackson made the biggest splash at the event, which brought out what he called 15-20 "big-time colleges," including Wisconsin, California, Stanford and Arizona.

Next up for Rost, also the Palo Verde football coach and athletic director, is the May 28 all-star game featuring the first- and second-team selections from the Sunrise and Sunset region.

Proceeds from the game's five dollar admission charge go to the UMC Burn Center.