LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The North Tahoe High School boys golf team completed their season long quest to bring home their fourth consecutive Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) 2A State Boys Golf Championship on Wednesday, May 14 at the Club at Sunrise in Las Vegas. The accomplishment makes the Lakers the fifth golf team in NIAA history to win four or more boys golf team state titles in a row and the first team to do so since 2010.

Not only did North Tahoe take the team competition top honors, senior Nolan Smith also took the top individual state title. That makes him the school’s third individual state title holder in a row, following Jaxen Perryman’s title in 2023 and Ty Whisler’s in 2024.

Incline High School took the second place team title and Incline’s Sam Lager took the second individual honor.

The state tournament took place over the course of two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13-14, with a practice round on Monday. Teams were met with high winds Monday that continued into the first round of the tournament on Tuesday, making for difficult conditions.

North Tahoe High School coach Kirsten Harris stated the course proved to be quite challenging, requiring precise and calculated shots off the tee, with a large wash running through the entirety of the course, making misses to the right extremely penalizing on the majority of holes.

Tournament day 1

Smith shot a solid round of 78 on day one, despite a couple of challenging holes on the front nine.  The rest of the team struggled in the blustery conditions, turning in scores well above their season averages. Freshman Braden Basile was an exception shooting a season low 94 to have his score counted towards the team total for the first time this season.  

Despite shooting a respectable team score of 348, the Lakers found themselves in second place on the team leader board for the first time all season. Incline High School had shot their second lowest team score of the season at 341, a seven stroke lead over the Lakers.

NTHS coaches thought fun and distraction was in order between rounds to lighten the mood, so the team played mini golf together Tuesday night.  “I knew the kids had put a lot of pressure on themselves and we felt like a little entertainment and goofing around might help them relax on the course for day two,” said coach Harris, and it appears to have done the trick.

Tournament day 2

Weather conditions improved on the second day and the playfield changed to tees 500 yards further than those on day one, a favorable change for the Lakers.

“I knew with our length off the tee, the longer yardage would give us an advantage over the field,” Harris said. “Plus our kids play a lot of tournament golf outside of our high school season which gives our players a big mental advantage when it comes to high stakes situations, so I felt very confident about making up the seven stroke deficit.”

Despite the greater distance, each Laker shot lower or at least even with their scores from the previous day.

The Lakers outscored Incline by 21 strokes, completing the day with 341 versus the Highlanders’ 362. That more than made up for the deficit from day one and gave the Lakers a 14 stroke victory for the title. The final combined score for the Lakers was 689 and 703 for the Highlanders.

Smith dominated the individual numbers, shooting 78 and 76 and carding the only two scores in the 70s of the tournament.  His combined 154 bested second place Sam Lager of Incline by 9 strokes.

The two other NTHS seniors each finished in the top 10 individually out of 53 players. Whisler’s two day total of 170 (88, 82) placed him in 7th and Ian Bower’s 173 (88, 85) put him in 9th place.  

Whisler, who had hopes of winning the individual title, persevered despite having a tough round on day one.

“He could have easily given up, but he went out there and played his heart out on day two to bring it home for the team,” Harris said. “He set a great example for the younger players on our team.”

The team, whose season typically starts when snow is on the ground, was able to practice at Tahoe City Golf Course on real grass much earlier in the year than typical due to the golf course’s efforts to clear a practice area. Access to a simulator at Tahoe National Brewing Co. was also a huge asset for the team.

“We are especially lucky to have such great support from our local golf community and golf courses,” Harris said.

The coach also attributes the season’s success to the Truckee Tahoe Junior Golf Tour and Tahoe City Golf Course PGA Jr League Program, which offers players accessible competitive tournament play all summer long.