The scores stayed low in the final round of the Class 1A boys golf state tournament at Columbia Point Golf Club in Richland on Thursday.
Chimacum’s Adam Barrows and Erik Nelson, both in the top 10 to begin the day, just couldn’t keep up with the torrid pace in the 92-degree heat.
A poor start doomed Barrows as he slid 17 spots from fifth to 22nd in the final day of competition Thursday, shooting an 83 for a two-day score of 153.
Meanwhile, Nelson held on through an up-and-down round to post a 76, good for a two-day score of 148 and a 15th-place finish, seven spots below where he started the day.
Goldendale’s Zach Wanderscheid won the title with back-to-back 68s (136).
“We didn’t play as well as we wished,” Chimacum coach Mitch Black said. “There were some boys that shot low. Unfortunately, we weren’t one of them.”
The two Cowboys’ descents came in stark contrast to Sequim’s Zoei Zbaraschuk.
The Sequim junior claimed her second straight top 10 state finish after shooting an 82 in the final round of the girls 2A tourney at Apple Tree Golf Resort in Yakima.
She finished with a two-day score of 166 as she rose from 12th to ninth in the final day of competition.
“For her to move up from where she was yesterday was really awesome,” Sequim girls golf coach Garrett Smithson said.
“There were a lot of seniors there, so with her having one more year left, we’re expecting a lot of good things from her next year, also.”
Big finish
She certainly delivered the goods at the end of Thursday’s round.
Zbaraschuk entered the final three holes three pars away from matching her first round score of 84.
She did two better, birdieing the par-4 16th, paring the par-3 17th, then hitting “one of her best shots of tournament” to set up her birdie on the par-5 18th.
“She had about 180 yards left [to the hole] and she pulls out her fairway wood to go for the green,” Smithson said.
“She knocked it pin high about 25 feet away from the hole.”
Zbaraschuk two-putted from there to finish with a score of 82 and another top-10 finish. She took seventh last year as a sophomore.
“She was keeping it in play for the most part and doing well around the greens,” Smithson said.
“She pretty much made everything inside of five feet all day.
“We’re all real proud of her and I know she is excited with what she did.”
Bellingham’s Claire Rachor won the tournament with a 148.
Rough start
Chimacum’s Barrows couldn’t find the same magic on Thursday that he had in the opening round when he shot a 2-under 70.
It surely didn’t help that he started the day 4-over after the first four holes.
“He missed a small putt on the second hole, then hooked one out into a lake and scored a double bogey [on the third], and then he bogeyed the next hole,” Black said of the senior.
“That kind of took the wheels off. He was skidding on the rims the rest of the way. He just couldn’t find any momentum.”
Nelson, on the other hand, sandwiched even-par golf between the fourth and 18th holes with a pair of double bogeys.
That resulted in a 76 for the round, the junior’s second straight in the 70s after putting up an even-par 72 on Wednesday.
“Erik played solidly,” Black said, adding that he had five birdies in the round.
“If we would have said [beforehand] that he would have two rounds in the 70s at the state tournament, I’d be really happy for him.
“That will give him some confidence next year and make him a better player overall.”
Even with the Thursday struggles, Chimacum ended up tied for sixth in the overall 1A team standings with a score of 43.5. King’s won with a score of 159.50.
“Overall, it was a good showing,” Black said.
Port Townsend senior Ronnie Harrell, the only other Peninsula golfer to make the first-day cut, shot an 80 on Thursday to finish with a two-day score of 158 at the boys 1A tourney.
That was good enough for two-way tie for 31st place.
