Baden Delaney is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Vista High School for AZPreps365.com

With individual state tournament spots at stake, Desert Vista finished in fourth place in their match against tough competition in Hamilton, Corona del Sol and Red Mountain Thursday at Foothills Golf Club.

The Thunder knew this match would be anything but easy as they were going up against Hamilton, which won the match with a score of 132 (12-under- par) and is the No. 1-ranked team in Division 1, and Corona del Sol, the third-ranked team. Desert Vista finished the 9-hole match with a 29-over-par for a final score of 163.

Although Desert Vista already was out of contention for the state tournament heading into the match, individual Thunder golfers were still trying to qualify. 

Desert Vista was headlined by freshman Tyler Reese and Jakob Stanley who both finished 1-over-par; senior Ryan Mueller who ended the day 7-over-par; and junior Anthony Golla and senior Bode Thomas who shot 10-over. 

This match was crucial for Thomas as he had to finish with a 2-over or better to qualify for the individual state tournament. 

After a par on the first hole, Thomas struggled and bogeyed the next three holes. After another par on hole 5, Thomas ended the match with a double bogey on the 6th hole, bogeys on holes 7 and 9, and a triple bogey on hole 8. 

This was not the round Thomas envisioned having when he teed off and was very vocal about not having his best day.

“I hit a few good iron shots but other than that nothing was really working today. I had a few good drives but my putting was pretty bad,” Thomas said. 

It was an emotional postgame for Thomas as he did not reach his mark of 2-over-par, putting an end to his high school golf career. Thomas wanted to finish with a statement at the end of the round and changed his approach knowing it was now or never if he wanted to qualify.

“Once I got to three over I started playing really aggressively and it didn’t work out,” Thomas said.

Head coach Matt Russo did not see one particular part of Thomas’s game that looked off and knows that Thomas is capable of playing far better than he did. 

“That’s just golf sometimes," Russo said. "It’s hard. Golf is a mental challenge and I think he put it right, it just wasn’t his day."

The story of the day was far different for Stanley, who already had qualified for the state tournament and played very consistent golf. Stanley hit phenomenal approach shots all day long including one on the par-5 eighth hole that led to a much needed birdie. With two birdies and three bogeys on the day, Stanley was very happy with his play.

“My irons were pretty pure today and I was hitting most of the greens. My setbacks were probably my putting. It was super hard to make putts but I still ended up getting pars,” Stanley said. 

Reese, the other freshman on the team, was able to put together a very good round that included two pars to start the day. After a bogey on the third hole, Reese was able to settle in, par the next three holes, and eventually birdied the eighth hole after a bogey on hole 7. Reese left the match with a score of 37.

Mueller started the round even through two holes and his short game looked impressive, but later scored bogeys on holes six through nine. Mueller shot a 43. 

Similar to Thomas, Golla had a tough day on the course even though he birdied holes one and six because he scored an 11 on the eighth hole. Golla ended the match with a score of 46.

Hamilton won the match behind an incredible team performance. The Huskies were headlined by Vincent Cervantes and Joseph Nelson who both finished the day at 4-under. 

Corona del Sol finished in second place with a 153 and Red Mountain scored 156 for third place.