LIBERTY LAKE — The field is stacked for the Class 2A boys golf state tournament today and Thursday at Liberty Lake Golf Course near Spokane.
Olympic League MVP Jack Shea of Sequim will play in the tournament’s opening group with defending state champion and University of Washington commit Matt Marrese.
Marrese managed a two-day total of 11-under-par at Chambers Bay last year to set an overall WIAA scoring record for the state tournament.
Shea’s other playing partner is Nick Nolan, a junior who won the Egbers Invite at Skagit Golf and Country Club earlier this month.
Shea’s teammate, senior Travis Priest, tees off at 9 a.m.
Priest, Shea and Shea’s dad, Bill, Sequim’s boys golf coach, were able to get in a practice nine Monday evening and played the par-70 course in full Tuesday.
“I’ve never been here before, but this is a very cool course,” Bill Shea said. “The layout is pretty open, there are wide fairways with trees here and there and the greens are large.”
Bill Shea thinks the course sets up well for each of his players.
“The back nine wasn’t too tough, so as long as you hit the ball relatively straight, you should be in good shape,” he said.
“We bought some yardage books and we will just go through the course on a shot-by-shot and hole-by-hole basis, and we will come up with a plan.”
Shea believes much of the scoring will come down to mastering shot placement and putting on the large greens.
“The greens are accessible and are rolling pretty nicely,” he said.
“Seven of the nine greens on the back nine are tiered, and they are huge greens.
“Just because you hit a green in regulation it doesn’t mean you are coming away with par.”
Both Priest and Shea missed the cut in their first state trips last season.
Shea averaged 36.33 strokes and Priest 39.5 per nine holes this season to finish first and fourth, respectively, in the Olympic League.
Goals for the Sequim duo haven’t changed too much from the start of the season.
“Travis said he wanted to go to state and make the cut, and Jack’s goal is to finish in the top 10,” said Bill Shea.
Port Angeles trio
The Roughriders’ senior trio of Alex Atwell, Alex Brown and Mason Jackson also will compete at Liberty Lake.
Port Angeles coach Mark Mitrovich took the players to play at Yakima’s Apple Tree Golf Course on Monday, and they were preparing to play the state course Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s par-70, which is unique, and it looks fairly open,” Mitrovich said.
“It looks to me like there are several holes around 400 yards or less where we can get some birdies.
“The fairways look pretty firm, but the biggest challenge to me will be the greens.
“They appear to be undulating and tiered and could be trouble if you hit to a bad spot.”
Jackson finished third in the Olympic League in scoring average this season with a 39.33, just edging out Atwell, who was sixth with an average of 39.67.
Jackson missed the cut at Chambers Bay last year.
“I think a goal for him is to play the second day and finish in the top 25,” Mitrovich said of Jackson.
“He hits the ball a little shorter, but when his iron play is working and he’s doing well around the greens he’s able to shoot very low rounds.
“I think he’ll be in business here.”
Atwell is looking to better last year’s tie for 33rd place at state when he was hampered after he broke his driver on the driving range minutes before his opening tee time.
“I think he was a little disappointed last year,” Mitrovich said.
“So, besides having a good time and enjoying this experience as an individual, he’s been working on supporting his teammates and I think his goal is to make the top 10 at state.”
Atwell has had talk with Olympic College about playing golf next year for the Rangers.
Brown nearly didn’t play this season after narrowly missing out on state last year.
“Alex can play at the level required to make the cut and place well in this tournament,” Mitrovich said.
“That’s his goal: getting to the second day and helping contribute to a good team score so we can come away with some hardware.”
Chimacum and PT
Four Chimacum and two Port Townsend golfers will tee it up today and Thursday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
The Cowboys’ qualifiers include three-time state participant Jack Hilt, two-time state golfer Chris Bainbridge and first-timers James Porter and Marcus Bufford.
“We want to get everybody through the cut and place as high as we can,” Chimacum coach Mitch Black said.
“Everybody is capable of playing well. Jack can shoot anywhere from 70 to 90, Chris shot 72 at the league tournament and James and Marcus have been coming on really strong lately.”
The Redhawks have some local knowledge in their back pockets: coach Gabriel Tonan worked as an assistant pro at the course in the 1990s.
Tonan’s stepson Zack Glover and Austin Khile will represent Port Townsend.
Glover missed the cut last season, while Khile is making his debut at state.
Port Townsend sophomore Patrick Morton is a state alternate and joined Glover and Khile on the trip to Pasco. Morton placed 31st at state as a freshman last year.
Sequim girls golfers
Sophomore Alex McMenamin and senior Brianna Kettel will compete today and Thursday at the 2A girls tournament at MeadowWood Golf Course in Liberty Lake.
The pair played practice rounds at the course Monday and Tuesday.
Carved from former farmland, the course has some parallels with the Wolves’ home course, Cedars at Dungeness.
“The fairways are wide and have fairly large landing areas,” Sequim coach Gary Kettel said.
“There’s a little more bunkering, so those come into play a little more, and more water.
“And the greens are a little slower.”
McMenamin, who finished third as a freshman last year, is the highest returning finisher from last year’s state tournament.
A state championship would seem to be in her grasp.
“I think that is what she’s hoping for, and I know that’s what she’s focused on,” Kettel said.
“She wants to do the best she can and play the best rounds she can play, and if she does that she can win it.”
Brianna Kettel, Gary’s daughter, is making her first trip to state.
“She shot her best competition round ever to qualify for state at Gold Mountain,” Gary Kettel said.
“That was a 90, so she’d love to make the cut, which means she needs to shoot around 100.”
Tee times for state golfers are available at tinyurl.com/pdn-teetimes.
Spectators are welcome to attend the tournaments.
There is no admission fee.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
