Wahkiakum Mule Golf

Submitted by Coach Nick Vavoudis

Wahkiakum Mule golfer Sarah Shi shot 90 and prevented an Ilwaco sweep by finishing in second place and punching her ticket to the Quad District Championship in Oak Harbor on May 19th. Four players qualify from District 4, and Ilwaco placed 1. Aslyn Fisher, 88, 3. Allison Bonney, 109, 4. Madeline Jacobson, 113, and 5., which is the alternate spot, Grace Bruncke, 114.

The race for medalist was a two horse race as the two leaders lapped the field by some 19 strokes. The first horse was a seasoned philly with great credentials, Aslyn Fisher, 2015 District 4 Champion, 2015 Quad District Champion, 2015 State 10th place, and 2016 Astoria Invitational Champion.

The other horse was this stubborn jenny , Wahkiakum's Sarah Shi, with zero experience in her first season. It was a great match! Sarah was one under after the second hole when she birdied the longest par 4 on the course. She was up two. That's when the defending champ steadied her way to a 3-stroke lead going into number 8. Sarah won holes 8 and 9 by one stroke each to start the turn down one. On number 11, Sarah hit her only errant drive of the day and double bogeyed while Aslyn birdied. Sarah is down three but picks up a stroke on number 12 and two strokes on number 13. Another double bogey on 14 leaves Sarah down one, and when Aslyn birdied 16, Sarah was down two with two to play. Sarah gambled on 17 and drove the ball over the corner trees to the middle of the par five fairway and picked up a par and two strokes to knot the race going into 18.

Sarah had the honors and smoked her five-wood to the middle of the fairway just 70 yards out on the par 4 finishing hole. This is where the lack of experience took its toll. Anxious for a chance to win, she looked up on the next two shots and wound up two strokes short of the crown.

Sarah hit the ball exceptionally well all day. She had trouble adjusting to the tricky greens, and eventually it was her downfall. She is excited to be advancing to the Quad District State Qualifier and, barring any catastrophes, she's a shoe in to qualify for one of the 10 slots available to go to state. Aslyn Fisher is a solid player and a very classy champion who is fun to play with and tough to beat. Sarah is a better player for the experience and looks forward to their next encounter.

When you think about the number of schools that have golf teams besides Ilwaco and Wahkiakum: Raymond, Willapa Valley, South Bend, North Beach, Northwest Christian, Adna, North Beach and Life Christian, it's quite the privilege to advance just four girls on to the quads from just two schools. Good job Ladies!

The boys play District on May 17th and 18th at Newaukum Valley, and Sarah travels to Oak Harbor on May 19th. Go Mules!

The Mule golf team split an intra-conference match to wrap up the regular season schedule May 9 by beating North Beach 200-212 and losing to the home team Ilwaco 181-200. Their 2016 intra-conference record finished at 22-8.

I told the team that if they shot 200 as a team that I would be pleased regardless of whether we won or lost. That's exactly what they shot, without the services of Sarah Shi who felt ill over the weekend and was trying to get her health well enough to play in the Sub-District Girls Match May 10th.

Zach Johnston led the Mules, shooting 44 and finishing fourth among 18 boys. Bryce Good shot 49, tying for fifth, and Connor Thompson tied for seventh with a 50. Tyler St. Onge shot 57, Gage Horman 59 and Elijah Doiron was the story of the day with his 59. Elijah had a 15 on a par five after he lost a 5-stroke argument with a sand bunker. One of the goals for a first year player is to break 60 and Elijah needed a birdie on the last hole, a 150 yard par 3. He made his first and only birdie in completion on that last hole to complete his day and helped the team avoid the 60+ club.

While the regular season is over we still have a lot of golf left to play, I'm happy with the improvement this group has made. If you compare the last three match totals to the first three, you see a 20 stroke improvement. That's awesome!

The boys next match is the two-day or 36 hole District Championship on May 17th and 18th. The top nine players go to State. The Mules have never failed to send at least one player to State. Go Mules!