Carson High golfers gear up for opener

When golf practice convened this year, Carson High golf coach Rod Butler was greeted by 29 players, including a plethora of freshmen and sophomores.

Heading that group is Butler’s son, Dalton, the only CHS player to make state last year. Butler, a senior, shot 158 at Thunder Canyon in the regional qualifier to make state as an individual.

A week later in Pahrump, he shot 159 and tied for 30th out of 51 players. He tied for seventh among Northern Nevada players.

“Dalton has received a few scholarship offers,” coach Butler said. “He’ll be making a trip up to Idaho to visit another college. He’ll make a decision later this month who he is going to sign with.”

Three other players — Bebop Martinez, Matt McCarthy and Jake Jones — are also expected to be among the top six players. Jones was a starter last year and shot a pair of 89s at Thunder Canyon, but failed to advance. Martinez and McCarthy are both returners.

Butler is hoping to fill out the starting line-up from among Lakoda Smokey, Brandon Ruf, Ethan Lepire and Noah Tomasco. “I’m hoping to have two players that can post 70s in each match and three that can shoot in the 80s,” Butler said. “Right now, I think we have three players that can shoot in the 70s if not the 80s. Our goal is to bring the other players along so we can reach our goal of having all the players in the 80s or lower.

“Casey Stevens, Taylor Saarem and Steven Earle are showing promise.”

The goal is to qualify a team for the regionals, which requires a top-four finish in the Sierra League. The grand prize is a trip to state, which is being played at Montreux, home to the annual Barracuda Championship.

This is the first time Montreux has opened its course for a high school tournament.