GIRLS PREP GOLF
Mylaina Parker and Montesano win districts
Rain may have slowed down the greens, but it didn’t slow the Montesano Bulldogs.
Led by Mylaina Parker’s district-title winning two-day score of 164, the Bulldogs won the team championship at the Southwest Washington 1A District Golf Tournament on Tuesday, May 14, at the Tumwater Valley Golf Course.
Parker shot an 80 in the 18-hole round on May 13 and followed that up with an 84 to finish atop the leaderboard and lead the Bulldogs to the lowest team score as well.
In sharp contrast to the calm winds and sunny weather on the first day of the tournament, golfers were subjected to sporadic rains and wind gusts that played havoc on tee shots, especially for the front nine.
Parker said she went to some different clubs than she normally would have to compensate for the conditions.
“Since it was raining when we first got here, the air was a little heavier and the ball wasn’t traveling as far,” she said. “I was having some issues getting my distance right and figuring out which club to use at which time early on.”
Parker had pressure on her for the entire round as she worked to protect a slim lead over second-place finisher Madison Hull from Life Christian, who shot 167 for the tournament.
Parker had a chance to go up four strokes with a 8 foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, but slow greens didn’t do her any favors as the putt was short and Parker had to settle for par.
Parker said she tried her best to put any negative feelings from the previous hole behind her by the time she walked to the 17th tee box.
“When I would have a bad hole, I told myself that I had 10 steps to be mad about it. Then I had to get over it and move on and like it didn’t happen after that,” she said.
Parker’s low score highlighted a strong effort from the Bulldogs, but she wasn’t alone in shooting a low score for Monte.
After shooting 92 on the second day, Montesano senior Glory Grubb ended her tournament with a score of 178, earning third-place in the district to help the defending state champions win the district title.
Montesano’s Glory Grubb chips out of a bunker on the fourth hole of the SWW1A District Golf Tournament on Tuesday in Tumwater. Grubb finished third overall. (Hasani Grayson |Grays Harbor News Group)
Montesano head coach Doug Galloway said he is confident in Grubb and expects her to post lower scores when she sees this course again during the state tournament.
“She’s a very good golfer and she ran into some poor luck in a couple places. She ran into a sand trap that hurt her a little bit and got a big score on that,” he said. “She’s a really good golfer and I’m excited for her to have another opportunity at this course.”
Montesano wasn’t the only local team to send players to state.
Hoquiam’s Bailey Smith finished fourth with a 189 and teammate Brooke Bogdanovich came in fifth with a score of 193.
“Bailey and Brooke did exactly what they set out to do at the beginning of the season,” Hoquiam head coach Patty Sundstrom said. “They wanted to end their high school golf careers at state and they earned it. I’m so excited and proud of them.”
The four state qualifiers from the Harbor competed in the state tournament Tuesday at Tumwater Valley Golf Club, but that event ended too late to make this edition. Go to thevidette.com to get the results.
It isn’t their home course but Galloway said there will be an advantage for his golfers, who will be competing at state on familiar grounds that aren’t too far from home as Monte looks to win state in back-to-back years.
“I like it because we can come and practice to get familiar with it,” he said. “We played this course a few times so I think it is an advantage and I think it’s an advantage to sleep in our own beds.”
Team Standings: 1, Montesano 50.5. 2, Hoquiam 46.5. 3, King’s Way Chr. 36. 4, Life Christian 35. 5, Ilwaco. 30. 6, La Center 12. 7, Elma 8.
Top Scores: 1, Parker, Montesano, 164. 2, Hull, Life Christian, 167. 3, Grubb, Montesano, 178. 4, Smith, Hoquiam, 189. 5, Bogdanovich, Hoquiam 193.
