Sweet Home’s Haley May finished 11th after what her coach called “as bad of golfing conditions as you could ask for” on Tuesday, May 16, the second day of the state 4A/3A/2A/1A golf championships at Trysting Tree in Corvallis.
Jake Hindmarsh finished tied for 38th, an improvement from his first-day standing, Coach Pat Davis said.
The girls tournament took place in rain that was literally falling horizontally, due to the wind velocity, Davis said. “I was very happy with the way Haley played in those conditions.”
“When I got out of my car, it was raining sideways,” Davis said. “All the girls’ scores went up five to seven strokes.”
May, a junior, finished with a 87-95-182, which moved her down from ninth place.
Trinity McCarthy of La Grande won the girls tournament with a 71-75-146. St. Mary’s won the team title, shooting 706 to finish ahead of Heppner/Ione (740). The top finisher from Special District 2 was Blanchet, which was fourth in a nine-team field, with Taft seventh and Newport eighth.
Hindmarsh, also a junior, improved by one stroke over his score on Monday to finish with a 92-91-183.
Davis said the weather had tempered by the time the boys played, though the wind was still severe.
“The wind picked up and that was what was most impressive about his round. He shot a 91 on Tuesday and the conditions were much, much worse – much harder to play.”
For example, Davis said, on the seventh hole, a 143-yard par 3, Hindmarsh moved up two clubs, from an 6-iron to an 8, and hit it flush at the flag.
“It dropped 20 yards short,” Davis said. “That’s how strong the wind was. It went out, straight up in the air, and straight down, 20 yards short.
“It was certainly different than all the conditions we’ve played all year.”
Junior Craig Ronne of Klamath Union was the boys medalist, shooting 69-68-137 to finish ahead of Carter Lee of Tillamook (70-72-142). Scappoose, which packed three players in the top 13 in a field of 59, won the team title with a 638. Stayton was the top finisher out of Special District 2, fifth in a field of 11 at 688. Sutherlin/Oakland was seventh (701) and Cascade was 11th (732).
Davis noted that his teams are losing no players to graduation, and he said the season ended on a high note. The Huskies started the season with 20 boys and seven girls and only lost a few players to attrition, he said.
Eleven of those boys and four of the girls are freshmen.
The team held a season-ending barbeque last week and 10 varsity players received letters. They were juniors Hindmarsh and Seth Wright, and freshmen Davin Guzman, Carson Smith and Travis Thorpe for the boys; and for the girls, juniors May, Alayna Davis and Nicole Grady, and freshmen Lexi Schilling and Brook Womach.
“We were much better individually and as teams than we were three or four weeks before the end of the season,” he said. “It was good, after that first bad day of districts, to see everybody bounce back.”
The expectation, he said, is for May and Hindmarsh to return to state next year and take others with them.
“The girls should be strong next year. The boys have been there. I hope Seth and Jake can be strong enough leaders to get the (current) freshmen over the hump.”