Whether the problem was the tough Salishan Golf Course in Lincoln City or just inside the Sweet Home boys golfers’ heads, the Huskies played themselves out of contention for a state team berth last week with a rough round at the district tournament on May 7.
Sweet Home bounced back with an excellent round on Tuesday, May 8, but it wasn’t enough, Coach Tom Horn said.
“You can’t win any tournament on the first day, but you sure can lose it,” Horn said. “We had a very good second day but it was too little, too late.”
The good news for the Huskies was that two golfers qualified as individuals to play Tuesday and today at the state tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon City. Taylor Huschka shot 189 for one of the three individual berths from the Val-Co League, while Travis Ramoz edged teammate Nick Zahler by one stroke, 199-200, for one of the two other slots.
Taft won the district title with a two-day total of 700 on its home course. Newport was second with 769, followed by Sweet Home (809) and Central (810).
Central’s Tyler Morgan shot rounds of 74 and 83 to take individual district medalist honors with a score of 157 to clinch the other individual league berth.
The Huskies shot 432 on Monday and followed that with a 377 on Tuesday. They actually beat Newport by 11 strokes on Day 2.
“The kids are intimidated by Salishan,” Horn said. “They didn’t think they would play well and, sure enough, they didn’t. They relaxed on Day 2 and saw that they can score on that golf course.”
Huschka shot 100 on Monday and 89 on Tuesday, while Ramoz turned in rounds of 111 and 88. Zahler shot 105-95-200, Nick Pitts 116-105-221 and Jake Riggs 120-121-141.