Taos Fall Invite welcomes northern teams, showcases TCC carpet
A rare Tuesday tournament took place this past week at Taos Country Club Oct. 2. In attendance were both class A-4A boy (Josh Fambro) and girl (Carisa Padilla) state champs from 2018.
Perfect conditions persisted in Taos for the duration of the interscholastic event that included Class A-3A teams West Las Vegas, St. Michael’s, Robertson and Raton on hand for the annual Taos Fall Invite. Ordinarily, golf matches take place on Monday mornings throughout the split fall and spring seasons. Taos also hosts a spring tournament, with many of the same teams converging on the pristine, linksstyle course.
The only Class 4A team in attendance were the Hope Christian (Albuquerque) Huskies, who placed second as a team behind Portales at this past year’s state championship tournament. Due to reclassification, both Taos and Hope moved up in class and will now have to face much larger teams and more skilled individuals.
The only two individuals who garnered a qualifying leg at the tournament was Taos’ Fambro, who came in first overall with a 70 (2-under par) and Hope Christian’s Jacob Lucero, who placed second with a 77 (5-over par). The Individual qualifying score for boys was 80.
“I’m glad Josh qualified for state,” said head coach Jim Fambro in post-match remarks, alluding to Josh’s third leg earned Tuesday. “Now the work begins.”
Other boys shooting for the Tigers included Jason Montoya, who shot 95, Kyle Smith, who scored 114, and Tyler Smith, who carded a 115. As a team, the Tigers came in second behind Hope with a score of 394.
There were no girls teams on hand who fielded a complete team of four girls. Scores earned by Taos golfers included Maye Montoya, who turned in the lowest stroke score for Taos and came in fourth overall with 125. She was followed by Veronica Montoya, who carded a 135, and Tegan Turnmire, who scored 151. Padilla, from St. Mike’s, was the overall winner with 85 (13-over par). Her teammate Alyssa Torres came in second with 104 and Robertson’s Nazari Green was third with 107.
The individual qualifying score for girls was 93.
Both boys and girls teams have three fall-season matches remaining and a full slate of spring tournaments to try to obtain team legs. This year’s state championship is set to take place at the Piñon Hills in Farmington May 13-14. Start times are to be determined.
Next up for the boys and girls teams is the Burrito Open in Albuquerque Monday (Oct. 8) at the at Paradise Hills Golf Club with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.