Rain came down by the bucketful last week during the two-day district golf tournament at Bremerton’s Gold Mountain Golf Club.
The steady rain, however, didn’t slow down Kentwood’s boys and girls teams.
The Kentwood boys won its third straight district crown with 464 strokes. The Conquerors were followed by Puyallup (475), Tahoma (492) and Beamer (493).
“We are living pretty high,” said Kentwood coach Kevin Hagen.
The Kentwood girls brought home the district title with 558 strokes. The Conquerors, who won the South Puget Sound League North Division crown with a perfect 10-0 record, were followed by Kentridge (588), Decatur (596) and Kentlake (598). Senior Rui Li’s second-place finish led the Conquerors, who also received strong performances from Erika Vossbeck (7th), Chelsea Brossard (14th) and Ravae Canas (21st).
The top 19 to 21 players from both the boys and girls tournaments advance to the state tournament, which is slated for May 25-26 in Kennewick and Pasco. The boys will play at Kennewick’s Canyon Lakes Golf Course while the girls will play at Sun Willows in Pasco.
Meanwhile, Li, Vossbeck, Brossard and possibly Canas, who is on the bubble, will represent the Conquerors at state. Kentlake’s Lindsey Douglas (11th) and Kelli Wyatt (15th) also punched state tickets while the fate of teammate Alyssa Scott (20th) hasn’t been decided.
Kent Hagen led the Kentwood boys with a second-place finish after carding a two-day total of 145. Hagen, who was tied for the lead after one day, fell just short of district champion Vinny Murphy (141) of Puyallup.
“I’m happy with it,” said Hagen. “But just knowing that I left like 10 shots out there … I just let (the title) get away from me. A lot of putts could have fallen. For how many shots I left out there, I think I could have easily had (the title).”
It was a strong overall tournament for the Conquerors, who advance three other golfers to state: Riley Kuranishi, Tom Zavada and Danny Peterson.“It was great,” Kent Hagen said. “It was fun to have six seniors this year and for everyone to play really well. It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
