Davis Johnson blasts his way out of sand on the front nine. He was the top boys finisher with a 77 for the match. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By RJ MONTAÑO
Los Alamos Daily Post
rjmontano@ladailypost.com
The Los Alamos High School boys’ golf team produced another strong showing during the 2017-18 season by finishing in second place at the 13-team Hilltopper Spring Invitational on Monday afternoon.
Los Lunas High School walked away with the narrow win, four strokes better than the second place Hilltoppers. Los Alamos was led by Sophomore Davis Johnson who shot a team low 77. Fellow Sophomore Henry Poston and Senior Sean Rau followed both shooting an 81.
“It is obvious that our boys have struggled a bit this spring. We’ve had some key players out. We have only had one round shot in the 70’s in three tournaments so far. We are playing catch up with the rest of New Mexico, but I do believe our trajectory is moving in the right direction,” Head Coach Anders Ainsworth said after the invite.
Los Alamos finished the fall portion of the schedule taking first place in all but one invite, beating several APS and Rio Rancho 6A favorites on the way. The Hilltoppers took second in the only tournament they didn’t win, behind 6A contender Piedra Vista. The spring portion has been a bit of a challenge for Los Alamos. “Many teams in New Mexico improved dramatically over the winter months. It appears that six teams will be making a run for the 5A State Championship (St. Pius, Academy, Lovington, Los Lunas, Artesia, and Los Alamos). Our work for the past three weeks has been outstanding. The kids are committed beyond words. The big question is how much will that work be reflected in our scoring over the next three weeks? Only time will tell,” Ainsworth said.
“I do know this much,” Ainsworth added. “If we keep the ball in play off the tee and chip and putt like we are capable of doing, we will be right there for districts and state. If not, we will likely see more of the same struggles as we close our season. It’s that simple, quality tee shots and quality short game.”
Boys Team
1) Los Lunas 322
2) Los Alamos 326
3) Hope Christian 335
4) Robertson 337
5) St. Michael’s 415
6) Capital 447
7) Tucumcari 469
No Team Score: East Mountain, Espanola Valley, Raton, Taos, West Las Vegas
Boys Invididual
1) Noah Gonzales, Robertson 71
2) Josh Fambro, Taos 74
3) Dylan Gonzales, Los Lunas 75
Los Alamos Individuals
- Davis Johnson 77
- Henry Poston 81
- Sean Rau 81
- Conner Cook 84
- Jacob Benelli 87
- Landon Burk 88
- Jon Doorn 101
- Sahib Khalsa 103
- Zach Moquino 104
- Julian Baier 114
