Tucumcari senior ties for fifth in state golf

Tucumcari senior Jaxon Arguello finished in a tie for fifth during the Class 1A-3A state golf championship Friday and Saturday at Rockwind Community Links in Hobbs.

Arguello shot an 87 during a cold, rainy and blustery day Friday, then improved to a 77 on Saturday for a total of 20-over-par 164. He tied with James Woods of Socorro for fifth.

“Playing in extreme conditions yesterday and great conditions today were reflected in the scores,” Tucumcari coach Marty Garcia said Saturday. “Jaxon was able to take advantage; he hit some nice recovery shots today and made the putts.”

The average score Friday was more than four strokes higher than on Saturday.

Alex Moores of Cottonwood won the tournament with a score of 155, which was 11 over par.

During the district tournament May 6 at the New Mexico Military Institute Golf Course in Roswell, Tucumcari finished third of three teams that carried a full roster. Dexter won the tournament with a 349 score, and Clovis Christian was runner-up with a 361. Tucumcari shot a 377. The team qualifying score was 338.

Arguello shot 78, again beating the state-qualifying score of 80, although he already had qualified for state the week before. Clovis Christian’s Tyler Lingnau won the tournament with a 76.

Rounding out the rest of the Rattlers roster were Malachi Anaya with a 90, Andrew Sandoval with a 101, Rod Dunlap with a 108 and Jeremiah Cordova with a 119.

Arguello was the only Tucumcari player to qualify for the state tournament. Garcia had hoped to qualify the entire team this season.

“We fell short of our team goals this year with Isaac Arias’ injury and some bad luck, but overall I am very proud of them and hopefully we have some coming up that will work and come back strong,” Garcia said.