Redmond boys golfers win 2A/3A medalist tourney

One stroke. That’s all it took for Redmond High to secure a victory.

Redmond’s boys golfers beat Bellevue’s linksters 378-379 to snag the 2A/3A KingCo medalist tournament on Oct. 9 at Snohomish Golf Course.

“It was a couple putts on the last hole that made the difference,” said Redmond coach Steve Wiebe. Ryan Ho sank a 15-footer for birdie and Sean Kato nailed a 3-footer for par.

Wiebe said the final tally wasn’t revealed until the golfers were done for the day and they all gathered around the scoreboard. As the scorer scrawled down the numbers, everyone anxiously checked the board.

“I said, ‘Hey, I think we won by one stroke.’ They (the Mustangs) were all adding it up and the guys were giggling,” Wiebe said with a laugh of his own.

The scores were confirmed and Redmond finished ahead of Bellevue, a team that handed the Mustangs its only loss — by four strokes on the Wolverines’ home Overlake Golf and Country Club — this season. Redmond finished league play at 7-1.

At the medalist tourney, Bellevue’s Ian Siebers was tops with a 32-35-67, Kato took second with a 34-36-70, Redmond’s Connor Golembeski took fifth with a 35-37-72, Redmond’s Sebastian Rudnicki took eighth with a 38-37-75 and Ho took 14th with a 42-37-79.

Next up is the 3A SeaKing District tourney on Oct. 24 at Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent. All four Mustangs have qualified.

Wiebe said it was important for Ho to qualify for districts since he’d like another shot to make state, which he missed out on last year by two strokes at districts.

Kato, Golembeski and Michael Cummings brought the 3A state title to Redmond last spring and also won the district title. Kato took first place at Riverbend in a five-hole, sudden-death playoff at districts last year.

“We hope to get all four in (to state), if everyone plays to their ability,” Wiebe said.

Kato and Golembeski are league first-teamers and Ho is a second-teamer.