Mules claim 3rd place at state golf

Day 1

The Wahkiakum Mule golf team’s top two golfers from the district championship survived the first day cut at state tournament Tuesday among the top 20 players plus ties and have positioned themselves to capture a team trophy on day two Wednesday.

Junior Tyler St. Onge shot a sensational 76 and tied for fourth, just three strokes off the lead held by the two time state champion, junior Blake Kukula of Ilwaco. Sophomore Logan LaBerge carded an 83, a personal best 18 hole score at Tumwater Valley Golf Course.

Senior Zach Johnston missed the second day cut by just two strokes, shooting 91.

Logan’s performance was especially important because only teams that have two or more players can qualify for a team trophy. The Mules are one of four.

At the end of the first day, the Mules were in a third place team position, trailing second place Colfax by a mere two strokes and holding a substantial lead over fourth place Wilbur-Creston by nine strokes. While the team points are calculated based on what place each player finishes, the stroke differential gives an idea of how much ground separates each school. Crosspoint has three golfers left in the last 20 players plus ties, so they have a substantial lead in first place by some nine strokes over the Mules and seven strokes over Colfax.

Day 2

The 2019 Wahkiakum Mules Golf Team hung on to the third place position they established on day one and won the Third Place State Championship Trophy to establish themselves as the best golf team in Wahkiakum school history.

Captain Tyler St. Onge, who was within one stroke of the lead after 17 holes on day one and then within two strokes of second place on day two after nine holes, ran into a string of bogies between holes 12-15 and ultimately had to settle for the sixth place medal, shooting 157.

Sophomore Logan LaBerge shot 43/43 for an 86 on day two, carding a tournament 169 and 13th place.

Senior Zach Johnston missed the cut by two strokes on day one but was deemed the Tournament Sportsmanship honoree and was awarded a gold medal for the achievement.

Blake Kukula of Ilwaco shot 144 and accomplished a three peat by winning the individual championship for the third year in a row. Blake also was a runner-up as an 8th grader.

Crosspoint Academy were team championship with 41 points followed by Colfax 31, Wahkiakum 22, and in a tie for fourth were Wilbur-Creston and St. George’s at 13.5.

A couple of footnotes:

The Mules salvaged a little satisfaction by avenging their district title loss to Life Christian Academy who were shutout in the team scoring at state on this very same golf course, Tumwater Valley.

Best golfer in Wahkiakum history is Cole Claussen, fifth place 2010. Previous best teams were fourth place finishers in 2011 and 2014.

Well that wraps up the Mules golf season for 2019. Skyline’s summer golf camp starts around June 17 for six graders through high school seniors times TBD; schedule will be printed in the Eagle. See you then!