Maddy Fisher returns to the Washington State 2A Golf Championship after qualifying at the Olympic Meet on May 2 at Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton.
She shot 95 on 18 holes at the Cascade course to take the fifth state spot for the championships set for May 21-22 at The Classic in Spanaway.
Four other golfers — in the girls, Brianna Kettel (102, 10th spot), Elisa Sallee (107, 15th), Caitlin Stofferahn (108, 16th), and for the boys Jesse Francis (86, 10th) — shot well enough to qualify for districts, set for May 14, again in Bremerton.
Girls coach Garrett Smithson said sending four girls to the playoffs is awesome and that Kailee Price (109) missed the districts cutoff by one stroke, but will go as an alternate.
“This was the first time we played 18 holes this year and every girl except one had one of their best nine of the year,” he said.
Smithson anticipates Sallee will return to shoot for state for a third time.
“I’d be shocked if she didn’t make it,” he said.
“The other two are sophomores and there’s a good possibility they’ll make it, too.”
His goal is for them to keep the ball in front of them and work on playing smart golf to make holes in less than six strokes.
He thinks Fisher plays her best on the big stage and envisions her finishing at least in the top 40.
Boys’ coach Bill Shea said the boys’ team didn’t quite meets its goal to send at least three golfers to districts and/or state.
Francis, a junior, holds Sequim’s fourth-best average with 45.3 per nine holes and Shea said he was the 19th or 20th best player in the league.
“On paper, he shouldn’t have gotten in, but he kept the ball in and didn’t have any blowup holes,” Shea said.
Sequim’s top performers all season, Travis Priest, Jack Shea and Anthony Pinza, averaged in the top 18 all season, Shea said, but they had a tough day shooting.
Jack Shea and Pinza tied for 20th with a 95 and will go as alternates along with Alex McCracken, who placed 19th with a 92.
Shea said the team initially expected the cutoff for district at 89 but they played the course the day before and found it tough and upped the estimate to 91, which McCracken just missed by one stroke.
At press time, Sequim’s teams were facing off against Kingston at The Cedars at Dungeness on May 6. If the boys win, they take second in league, and if the girls win and Kingston beats North Kitsap on Tuesday, then the Wolves tie for first place.
If Francis and any alternates advance from districts, they’ll play at the boys’ state meet on May 21-22 at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place.
Golf teams take third in league
In the final league meet of the year for the Sequim Wolves, both the boys and girls golf teams saw close scores and third-place finishes.
Sequim’s boys (5-3) lost out on a chance to tie Kingston for second place by a few strokes at The Cedars at Dungeness on Monday afternoon. Districts-bound Jesse Francis shot the low score of the day for both teams at 77.
His teammates included Anthony Pinza (84), Jack Shea (90), and Travis Priest, Matt Cays and Alex McCracken (all at 94); with Francis and the top other four scores, Sequim tallied 439 team points. Unfortunately, it was more than Kingston’s top five. The Buccaneers finish second in the league at 7-1.
Sequim’s girls tied Kingston at 253 strokes through nine holes and finish in third place at 6-1-1.
Districts-bound Elisa Sallee shot the day’s low score for the Wolves with a 44 followed by Maddy Fisher, who qualified for state last week, at 47. The Wolves’ other top three golfers were Kailee Price (51), Brianna Kettel (55) and Caitlin Stofferahn (56).
The Buccaneers finished second with a 6-0-1 record.
Kettel, Sallee, Stofferahn and Francis travel to girls’ and boys’ districts on May 14. McCracken, Shea and Price will go as alternates. The state meet begins May 21-22 for Fisher and potential qualifiers.
