Paige Peterson heard the rumblings, didn’t want to believe it, but at the same knew how fickle the game of golf is so he wasn’t going to discard it.
The Mesa Mountain View boys golf team really did put up a tremendous final round and once again Desert Vista was regulated to runner-up status.
It was hard to believe on Tuesday at Aguila Golf Course, and interrupted a mini-celebration by the Thunder players who believed they had finally gotten over the hump.
Peterson relayed the news on the other side of the clubhouse, away from the rest of the field, that as well as Desert Vista played over the two-day tournament the Thunder was going to finish as the Division I state runner-up for the fourth straight season.
By one shot no less.
Mountain View finished at even par 576 and the Thunder was 1-over 577 with Brophy (579), Perry (585) and Desert Mountain (591) rounding out the top five.
“I am proud with how hard they worked the last two weeks,” Peterson said. “All season we talked about how important it is to finish your round and how every stroke matters. They didn’t forget that in any way.
“(Monday) they were great down the stretch. (Tuesday) some guys had a few bad holes down the stretch. It’s gonna happen. It just seems it happens to us at the worse possible times.”
DV’s Matt Liringis was the medalist, the program’s first-ever champion, by a commanding six strokes, and every Desert Vista player is coming back next season to make another push toward a state title.
Liringis followed up his 7-under 65 with a just as impressive 4-under 68 to win the tournament by six strokes over Independence’s Anthony Quezada, who finished at 5-under 139.
Mountain Pointe senior Austin Fletcher entered the second day tied for second at 3-under 69 and managed a par-72 for a tie for fifth place with the Thunder’s Randy Ross to help Mountain Pointe to a 13th place finish in the 19-team field.
