PORT ANGELES — Shelton may have repeated as overall team champions at the 17th annual Duke Streeter Invitational boys golf tournament Friday afternoon, but Jordan Negus stole the show.
The Port Angeles junior came up with three straight spectacular shots on the first hole of a three-team playoff to lift he and teammate Terrance Stevenson to the individual crown at Peninsula Golf Club.
Negus’ shots, capped by a long eagle putt, were all he and Stevenson used to claim a dramatic one-shot victory on the par-5 10th hole over Port Townsend’s Cody Piper and Sean Anderson in the two-person scramble.
“I tried to emphasize to them that they are a team, but in that particular case it was Jordan’s hole,” Port Angeles coach Mark Mitrovich said. “Jordan just hit two great shots and then the putt. He’s been putting really well.
“He lengthened his putter and put another grip on it, and since then it’s been lights out. His confidence has just grown with that.”
It was Negus’ approach shot with his 3-wood that really made the difference in the playoff.
Neither the Port Townsend (Piper-Anderson) or Shelton (Colton Gott-Zach Lund) two-person teams in the playoff were able to reach the green in two shots.
But Jordan’s strike from 210 yards out split a pair of bunkers on each side of the 10th hole green and landed within 15 feet of the cup.
“You kind of have to thread it through there,” Mitrovich said. “There’s a little narrow opening there and he found it.”
One right-to-left putt later, and Negus and Stevenson were celebrating a Duke Streeter title days after both qualified for the Class 2A state tournament.
Piper and Anderson took second, topping the Shelton team of Gott and Lund by one stroke after scoring a birdy.
All three teams finished with an 18-hole score of 66 to force the playoff, which was a first in the 17-year history of the tournament.
“The playoff was really fun,” Mitrovich said. “It was just great to be a part of, just really great for golf and the kids.
“Jordan was really fired up. It was really neat to see him do that, him and Terrance. They both combined really well.
“It’s a partnership [in scrambles]. Not everybody hits all the shots. Sometimes you have to coordinate it together.
“That’s what makes a good team.”
Shelton won the overall team title — teams were made up of three pairings — by a one-stroke margin of its own.
The High Climbers scored a 218 to beat out the Olympic League champions Redskins’ 219.
Port Angeles I finished third out of eight teams with a score of 226, with Sequim’s top squad next at 230.
17th annual Duke Streeter Invite
Two-person Scramble Peninsula Golf Club
18 holes
Shelton (218)
Gott and Lund, 66; Martinson and Cation, 72; Lewis and Matlock, 80.
Port Townsend (219)
Piper and Anderson, 66; Reinhart and Hensley, 73; Ottaway and Iber, 80.
Port Angeles I (226)
Negus and Stevenson, 66; Payton and Wetzler, 72; Roblan and Grimsley, 88.
Sequim I (230)
Maloney and Torres, 78; Perkins and Francis, 72; Francis and Piza, 80.
Chimacum (238)
Moug and Browning, 70; Miller and Lovekamp, 83; Davis and Rasmussen, 85.
Olympic (254)
Guerrero and Layton, 77; Schilling and Webel, 88; Cleveland and Young, 89.
Port Angeles II (278)
Burke and Alderson, 101; Alderson and Sharp, 97; Hudson and Moore (Sequim), 80.
North Mason (81)
Eddy and Makowski, 81.
