The Dalles High Riverhawks boys golf team had a phenomenal start to the season with a second-place finish in their season opener in Hood River on March 14, followed by a win at home March 18.
The Hawks, guided by longtime Coach Dan Telles, shot a four-player total of 368 to win by five strokes over the second place La Grande High Tigers (373) last Friday at The Dalles Country Club. It marked the first tourney win by The Dalles in six years.
“We won on our home course and the guys chopped off strokes from the previous tournament,” said Telles. “We shaved off 30 strokes from our first tournament. We’re hoping to improve week by week. They can improve a little more too, which is good and they’re also having fun, which is awesome.
“They’re doing good, they want to compete, and you can see it in the way the play and in their eyes. They’re playing basically within themselves, and that’s the key, because this game can get you. When you try to hammer the hell out of the ball, then your scores can just balloon up if you do that.”
The Dalles junior Joseph Codding helped lead the Hawks to the victory, as he earned medalist honors with a career-best 82 on two trips around the nine-hole course in The Dalles. It was the first tournament win for Codding, who won by two strokes over Garrett Smith of St. Helens; Mo Cereghino of Molalla took third at 85.
“I want to get scores in the mid-70s, and I’ll gradually get it down to that,” said Codding, who had birdies on the fourth and sixth holes. “It’s the first time I’ve ever won a tournament, so I’m really happy. I had a blast; it was a lot of fun, and I really liked the group I was in. The happy feelings all around just made me shoot better, I think.
“I was just relaxed, and we all had a lot of fun. I was kind of expecting this and I was hoping for an even lower score because this is our home course and I like playing here. I think with having the pressure of a tournament I’ll take the 82.”
The St. Helens High Lions took third (400), followed by the Madras High White Buffaloes (414), the Pendleton High Buckaroos (437) and the Hood River Valley High Eagles in sixth at 445.
“The weather was awesome, the famous Gorge winds stayed away and with a little cloud cover it was just about perfect conditions,” said Codding. “The wind can really change things. I got down four strokes today so if I continue to improve, then I think I should be able to get down to 78 at the next tournament. I think shooting a score in the 70s is definitely a good possibility. I just have to sink a couple of more putts.”
The Dalles junior Kenneth Miller shot 92, junior Keeler Lawson had a 96 and senior Chase Sam shot 98 to round out the top-four Hawk golfers. The Dalles’ fifth player, Leighton Voodre, shot a non-counting score of 113.
“A couple of our guys improved from the front nine to the back nine, so that tells us that they kept fighting and that’s what you need,” said Telles. “We have a good group of guys who can scrap like hell. Hopefully, we’ll get another guy in position to win a tournament, too. They all have the potential to do that, and they’ll all knock off strokes. Joe is capable of shooting in the 70s and he’ll definitely be able to do that soon.
“I’m really proud of everyone because they represented The Dalles very well today. The kids did great, it was a beautiful day and we got lucky with no wind on a sunny day and no rain.”
Codding shot an 86 and was second in the Hawks’ opener March 14 on the 18-hole Indian Creek Golf Course in Hood River. Miller shot 96, Sam shot 105 and Lawson shot 111. Sophomore Connor Sam shot a non-counting score of 121.
The Hawks had a team score of 398 to finish second by one stroke to the Scappoose High Indians (397).
The Hawks will compete in their next event March 28 in the Pendleton Invitational Tournament at the Wildhorse Golf Course in Pendleton.
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