Bear Creek’s Hayes holes 1A state golf title

Grizzlies win team crown

Bear Creek School’s John Hayes firmly held onto his first-day lead and finished off day two at the top of the 1A state golf standings at Liberty Lake Golf Course.

He shot 69-70-139 and Charles Wright Academy’s Jahan Bains took second with a 73-69-142 on Wednesday.

Staying cool, calm and consistent were key factors to senior Hayes’ victory, he noted. He holed five birdies during the opening round on Tuesday and kept rolling smoothly on the second day, which featured a pair of birdies.

There were no nerves at the start of the tourney, he said, just an eye on victory in his fourth straight state event. He placed third as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and 11th as a freshman.

“I’ve been here before, and I just played well and it was nice to win,” he said.

Bear Creek’s Oliver Nordberg took fourth with a 78-68-146 and the Grizzlies won the team title with 88 points. Seattle Academy took second with 85.50 points.

Nordberg’s 68 was the best round among the field on both days.

“Yesterday I had a few unlucky breaks and today I drove the ball super well to get a bunch of birdie opportunities,” said Nordberg, who had five birdies on Wednesday.

He knew the team title was in Bear Creek’s reach if he could finish top five to go along with a Hayes victory.

“I just put the pedal to the metal and gave it all I got,” Nordberg said.

Overlake’s Trent Gardner, Conrad Im, Justin Pong and Ivy Haight all made it through to the second day at state.

REDMOND

Redmond’s Ryan Ho took fifth at state with a 70-74-144 in Spokane.

Also for the Mustangs — who tied for third as a team — Connor Golembeski tied for 11th with a 76-71-147 and Sean Kato tied for 14th with a 74-75-149.

On the girls’ side in Spokane, Adithi Anand took eighth with a 83-73-156 and Lily Kralyevich took 18th with a 89-77-166 as the Mustangs took fifth.