This past weekend, April 6-7, both the men’s and women’s Puget Sound golf teams competed in the Northwest Spring Classic at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington.
On the women’s side, freshman Halle Peterson (Boulder, Colo.) led the Loggers after round one with a score of 90 (par +18), which put her in 21st place along with a competitor from Pacific Lutheran University.
Junior Eve Grier (Port Angeles, Wash.) tied for 30th with a first round score of 104 (par +32), while freshman Lauren Boniface (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) shot a 117 (par +45) to secure the 33rd spot and sophomore Madison Cox (Kirkland, Wash.) followed in the 34th spot with a score of 123 (par +51).
Sophomore Molly Nelson (Bothell, Wash.) finished in the 36th spot along with a competitor from Linfield, shooting a 128 (par +56). Despite their effort, however, the Loggers finished round one of the tournament in 8th place with a team score of 434 (par +146).
Junior Matt Kitto (Lake Oswego, Ore.) led the Loggers on the men’s side, recording a first round score of 76 (par +4) to secure a ninth-place spot along with a competitor from Linfield.
Junior Derek Wilson (Bellevue, Wash.) followed close behind, scoring 77 (par +5) on the first round to tie with golfers from Linfield and Pacific Lutheran.
Sophomore Adam Bean (Portland, Ore.) shot a 78 (par +6) to secure a spot at 14th along with golfers from Pacific Lutheran and Whitman. Sophomore Ricky Howard (Madison, Wisc.) also performed well, shooting a first round score of 79 (par +7) to finish the day tied for 17th with competitors from Pacific Lutheran, Whitman, and Pacific.
The Loggers finished in fourth place with a team score of 310 (par +22) after day one of the Northwest Spring Classic.
Unfortunately, the tournament was put on hold due to the rainy Pacific Northwest conditions over the weekend.
Wilson said in an email, “The golf tournament this weekend was shortened due to ‘unplayable’ conditions on the second day and therefore both the men’s and women’s teams were only able to play 18 holes on the first day.
“As far as the men’s team goes, we were looking forward to improving upon our first day scores and move up the leader board to put us in good position in the standings for the conference championship coming up in two weeks.
“Unfortunately, after the course superintendent gave the approval that we could in fact play the tournament, the coaches as a group deemed the course conditions to be ‘unfair’ and the second round of the tournament was called off.”
Although both teams may have been disappointed with their first round results, they are looking forward to improving as the end of the season nears.
Kitto said in an email, “We will definitely use this as a learning experience and it shows how important every shot is whether it is the first shot on the first day, or the last putt in the final round.
“I know we are all disappointed with the results of this tournament, but we still have a chance to win the conference and we’re going to work hard the next couple of weeks to see if we can put ourselves in a position to do that.
“This weekend shows that anything can happen.”
Men’s golf will be back in action at the Washington Cup on April 13 in Moses Lake, Wash., and both the men’s and women’s teams will finish off their respective seasons at the Northwest Conference Championships, which will be held on April 20-21 in Woodburn, Ore.
