The Sabercats came up with a strong team performance against Coronado to grab the league win at McCormick Ranch Golf Club on Tuesday and secure a postseason spot.

The state championship is at Omni Tucson National Resort on Oct. 28.

Saguaro sits inside the top 10 for Division II schools and looks to keep momentum. The team ended the season ranked ninth with a 2.085 handicap margin between the Prescott Badgers, who are the 10th seed.

The top 5 varsity players all have single-digit handicaps for nine-hole matches to end the regular season. This is an improvement from last year when they relied on the top three players to score.

“Everyone has been striking the ball well as of late from tee to green,” said senior Joey Harmon.

The team has a 12.9 handicap and is confident in its playing ability as of late. This league win makes it two in a row at a tough McCormick Ranch Golf Club that is hard for any skilled golfer. The putting from the team was successful considering that the golf course had just punched its greens for the aeration process.

Harmon is leading this young team with a personal best 1.32 handicap. A highlight from Harmon’s round was when he chipped in for birdie on the par-3 fifth hole. He managed to make a perfect read out of the rough and sink his 20-foot chip shot into the center of the cup.

This match was their first since fall break. Nonetheless, the players were well-rested and ready to put up good numbers.

LaRue was impressed with how sophomore Barrett Bowers played after he had been struggling the past couple of matches. Bowers needed that break to regroup.

“I feel confident in our team heading into the state championship as the team chemistry is solid and we are putting up good scores,” said LaRue. “This is a big accomplishment for us to qualify as a team two years in a row.”

The varsity squad plans on practicing hard these next two weeks in order to fully prepare for the challenge ahead. 

“We need to hit the reset button and get ready for state as we all need to be playing at our best,” said junior Will Slessman.

LaRue is raising the bar as he believes his team can perform at a higher level at the state championship than last year. 

In 2018, the Sabercats finished ninth at the state championship with a combined team score of 314. The team this year has a better scoring average than last year’s squad.

The top three players on the team all performed at a high level, as Bowers shot 2-over-par and senior Joey Harmon shot 1-over-par. Everyone was playing up to their potential all on the same day.

“Our goal is to get top 5 at the state championship, and I believe we can accomplish that this year,” said LaRue.