Six golfers took a familiar course to state and districts last week.
The Wolves took advantage of their home field for the Olympic League Tournament on May 13 held at The Cedars at Dungeness.
Jesse Francis, Jack Shea and Alex McMenamin move on to the 2A state golf tournament on May 28-29 with the boys at Chambers Bay in University Place and the girls at The Classic in Spanaway.
Three more golfers — Travis Priest, Brianna Kettel and Kailee Price — qualified for districts on Tuesday, May 20 at Gold Mountain in Bremerton.
Priest won the boys tournament shooting an 79 (37, 42), four shots ahead of second place, while Price earned the first alternate spot to state shooting 101 and Kettel shot 115.
Price was in a playoff and replayed the first hole and won with a bogey, Sequim boys coach Bill Shea said.
The top seven boys and girls qualified for state at the Olympic Tournament while the top 8-17 qualified for districts.
Francis, a senior, was Sequim’s top boys finisher tying for third, shooting an 80 (40, 40) with three other players — Aaron Holiday of Klahowya, Alex Atwell of Port Angeles and Nolan Setterlund of Kingston.
Shea, a sophomore who shot an 81 (43, 38), took seventh after a sudden death playoff against teammate Priest (81, 37, 44) and Josh Frederickson of North Mason (81, 39, 43).
Boys coach Bill Shea said the three boys were in the clubhouse more than an hour before the three of them teed off from hole one to determine who was going to state.
He said it was a battle of short games as Jack Shea won the first hole with a par and Priest got to the green on hole two in two strokes to take the alternate spot to state.
Jack Shea also battled a bloody nose on hole two earlier in the day but Bill Shea said it deterred his game for about 20 minutes but he got back on track.
Matt Phillips of Klahowya tied Michah Needham of Port Angeles shooting a 79 for first place.
Bill Shea said Francis was Sequim’s only senior to make the postseason.
“Last year, he was the only one to make it to districts,” he said. “He’s a true athlete.”
Before going to state, Bill Shea said the boys will play more links-style courses like SkyRidge in Sequim to find a familiar feeling to Chambers Bay because it’s more of a links-style course, more bump and run. “(At Chambers Bay) it’s not the guy who hits it the straightest but has some creativity and doesn’t get frustrated,” Bill Shea said.
Girls send three
McMenamin, Olympic League MVP, finished second of all girls shooting an 86 (44, 42) behind Port Angeles’ Dana Fox (39, 43, 82).
Sequim girls coach Garrett Smithson said McMenamin would have liked to finish first since she was league champ and on her home course but she was happy to move onto state.
Junior Brianna Kettel, who shot 100 (51, 49), just missed a seed for state by two strokes but she went into Gold Mountain as the top seeded golfer but didn’t make the cut.
Kailee Price, a junior who shot 113 (56, 57), tied for 17th and won a one-hole playoff against Emily Baumgartner of Olympic (113, 58, 55). She won another playoff at districts for the state alternate spot.
Smithson said Price had a fever the night before the Olympic tournament and had to wait two hours to play the sudden death.
“She got a bogey (on hole one) and the other girl got a double bogey,” Smithson said. “It was a pretty emotional experience.”
The four-plus hours of play also was the first time the girls team played 18 holes officially as a team.
Smithson said some players finished fast and that for some finishing the full course and playing well was an accomplishment, too.
To ready for state, Smithson said McMenamin is a solid player and it’s more working on her mental game at this stage.
“Everything is pretty good,” he said. “She just needs to slow down and let the game come to her.”
As for the other girls, he said since they are still younger the game of golf is new to them and they need to do the same as McMenamin.
Wolves scores
For the boys, Anthony Pinza shot an 89 (44, 45) to tie for 21st, Alex McCracken shot 91 (47 44) for 23rd and Henry Markham shot 101 (52, 49) for 32nd.
For the girls, Megan O’Mera shot 117 (57, 60) to tie for 21st, Cecilee Wech shot 133 (63, 70) for 33rd and Kelly Anders shot 138 (65, 73) for 35th.
