Logan overcomes early struggles

The two-day state golf tournament did not start off as well as Luke Logan had hoped.

The 16-year-old shot a 40 on the front nine at Sierra Sage outside Reno, leaving the sophomore to find his rhythm.

“I was all over the place,” Logan said. “I looked at myself after the ninth hole and kind of just said, ‘Well, I need to turn this around and put up a nice back nine.”

Logan bore down with 32 over the next nine holes, collecting a 1-over-par 72 to take a 1-stroke lead May 14.

Although he continued to struggle the second day, carding a 3-over-par 74, it was good enough for Logan to capture the 1-A boys state golf individual championship.

His two-day total of 146 left him two strokes ahead of the field.

Coach Regina Quintero said Logan didn’t get frustrated after shooting poorly, for him, to start the tournament.

“Instead of falling apart like some golfers do, he just stays with his game and comes back with a 32,” Quintero said. “He just thinks his way around and doesn’t let things get out of control.”

Logan said the second day on the golf course left a lot of room for improvement.

“I just felt like I was all over the place again,” he said. “I was scrambling for par instead of hitting the greens and getting two putts.”

Logan becomes only the third Boulder City boys golfer to win a state title. Dusty Craddock won in 2006 and Phil Tait captured the title in 2000. No Eagles player has won more than one.

The win comes after a disappointing showing at the state tournament last year. He struggled through both days, shooting a 154, finishing second and 11 strokes behind the state champion.

Logan said that experience showed him that he needed to spend more time playing two-day tournaments instead of focusing on single-round events.

Prior to the 2012 state tournament, he had played in only “five or six” two-day tournaments, but played in 10 since then.

“Last summer after state I had lots and lots of two-day tournaments for me to have that experience of having to play well both days,” he said. “That really helped me this year.”

Focusing on the two-day format goes beyond just preparing for the yearly state tournament, Logan said. The bigger amateur tournaments are traditionally the two-day format, and Logan had not fared very well in those, either.

“I’d put up a good score the first day and then I’d blow up,” he said. “So I figured I’d need to play in as many as I could.”

Logan won the 1-A Southern Region May 7-8, shooting 3-over 147 to win his second regional by nine strokes.

Quintero said Logan is able to focus in on his game and not worry about where his competition might be on the leader board.

“He doesn’t let anything distract him,” she said. “He just worries about his game and what kind of shot he’s going to hit, where he’s going to putt.”

Logan echoed his coach’s critique.

“I personally look at what I’m doing and try figure out what I’m doing wrong,” said Logan, who started playing golf after finding his dad’s clubs in the garage at age 4. “I go out and try to beat the course instead of beating the field. If someone else does good, good for them, as long as I’m happy with what I played.”

While Logan won the individual state title, the team took third with an 826, well back of Lowry’s 786. Faith Lutheran finished second at 826.

Senior T.J. Hatfield and junior Kyle Effertz finished tied for 19th at 169. Junior Marcus Walker had a 172, senior Tyler Barton a 173 and sophomore Christian Hudleson a 176. The top five scores count toward the team total.

Quintero, who has been in Boulder City for 24 years, said Logan is as good as the school’s other title winners were, but at a younger age.

“He’s going to be a little bit better because he is so young,” she said. “He’s counting on golf to go play college golf somewhere. This is what he wants to do.”

Quintero said how far Logan goes with golf is up to him.

“This is going to be his game,” she said. “As much as he decides to work, if he puts in the time and works hard on his game, I think he can go quite a ways with it.”