Tebbs brings home state title

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.

Riding a bus out of the central Nevada outpost of Tonopah, Green Valley's Adam Tebbs certainly didn't sound like he'd just won the state high school boys' golf championship.

Tebbs, who matched his first-round score of 74 to claim the 4A medalist honors, focused on some early-morning struggles in Tuesday's final round of the state tournament at the Red Hawk Resort in Sparks.

"I bogeyed one and doubled three, and I was losing the tournament by three strokes after the first three holes," Tebbs said. "I fought back and birdied eight and shot a 38 on the front with some momentum going into the back nine."

Then, he said, he one-putted 10 for an eagle, doing just enough to edge Churchill County's Scott Smith by one stroke and the state title.

"Fairways and greens, that's all I did," he said. Then Gators coach Greg Murphy's cell phone cut out for the rest of the evening, leaving Green Valley golfers alone again to celebrate the school's fourth state golf team title.

The race for the team title wasn't nearly as close as the competition for medalist. While every team improved their overall scores from a miserable Monday for golf, Green Valley dropped 40 strokes off its first-round scores for a final score of 776.

Second-place finisher Palo Verde finished at 804, one stroke ahead of 2004 champion Bonanza.

"Green Valley lit it up today. They played outstanding," Panthers coach Jeff Wolfram said as his team's bus rolled into Las Vegas late Tuesday. "A couple Bonanza kids played well. They gained some ground on us. I'm happy for our kids. Our seniors played real well for four years, four (second-place finishes) for them."

Sierra Vista's Tatsuro Oshimoto, who qualified as an individual, finished third after winning a scorecard tiebreaker with Bishop Manogue's Luke Scott. Coronado's Chris Baden edged defending state medalist Aaron Slonim and Reno's Jared Becher on a scorecard tiebreaker after all three scored 152.

Green Valley's Joseph Harrison, whose 94 on Monday was one of the highest scores in the 50-player field, shot a 70 Tuesday, the best score in the second round.