The Lake Havasu boys golf team finished with three of the top five scores and won its annual Lake Havasu Golf Invitational at the Lake Havasu Golf Club on Saturday.The Knights finished the tournament with a total score of 326 – 33 strokes fewer than Mohave Accelerated (359). Other teams that made the trip to Havasu were Agua Fria (391) and Kingman (537).“It was nice to win at our home course and win at our home tournament,” Knights coach Nate Koch said. “That’s one of our big goals of the season and it was nice to check one of the goals off.”Koch also thanked the golf course for hosting the tournament and said it’s a huge asset to the golf program.Sophomore Derek McCoy was the best golfer on Saturday, finishing with the top overall score with a 76 (5-over par). McCoy said the 17th hole gave him the most trouble on Saturday, finishing the par 3 hole with a double bogey.Despite the late round struggles, McCoy said it was a good overall day on the course.“Everything was working for me today,” McCoy said. “My short, my short irons, my drives, my putts, everything was just working.”His teammate Lane Daigle shot the second-best score at 82. The Knights had four of the top five scores with Robert Minden and Adan Sanchez both finishing in a tie for fourth-best score at 84.“It’s not my best, but not my worst either,” Sanchez said about his score.Freshman Jenson Salazar shot a 93 and junior Collin Livermore finished with a 94.For the second straight year, the tournament had a small turnout compared to years past. The three teams that made the trip to Havasu this year were more than last year, as Mohave Accelerated was the only squad to show up to the 2020 event.Five teams were supposed to compete in last year’s scaled back event, which was limited to covid-19 protocols from the Arizona Interscholastic Association.In years past, about nine to 12 teams played in the tournament. Koch said he hopes the tournament returns back to normal with double the amount of teams next season.“It was nice to have more teams come play us and have more competition,” Koch said. “That’s what we need and that’s what the boys like.”With two matches left in the season, the Knights have a glimmer of hope of qualifying for the state tournament. As of Saturday night, the Knights were ranked No. 25 in the state rankings. The top 16 advance to the state tournament.Koch said they’re hoping to drop their highest score and move up in the rankings with a great round in their next match on Wednesday.“That’s the great thing about this game of golf, there’s always a chance right?” Koch said. “So yeah, we’re going to go to Laughlin Ranch on Wednesday and see if we can’t go low as a team and if we do from there, then we have a lot of practice and thinking to do for our last home match.“But we’re going to give it our best because there’s always a chance.”The Knights will head to the Laughlin Ranch Golf Course in Bullhead City for a match against Mohave Accelerated on Wednesday. Havasu will be back on its home course on Oct. 18 for its senior day match against Kingman, Lee Williams and Mohave.
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