This weekend the Northwest Region kicked off their season in Kennewick, Washington at Canyon Lakes Golf Course.
The course was set up pretty challenging but some players took advantage of it and scored well while others suffered. The course was playing at 6630 yards both days with a rating of 71.9 and a slope of 128. The tournament had 4 teams playing with a total of 29 players in the field for this weekend. The weather for the first day was overcast with a little rain here and their but never had a ton of rain. The second day brought a whirlwind of fun for everyone. The day started out a beautiful morning with the sunrise coming up right over the driving range but then the wind and rain came in and lasted about half the round until the clouds cleared, but the wind stuck around for the rest of the round. Winds were upwards of 20 mph and got worse every once in awhile which caused most players some troubles controlling their shots.
All the teams had 1st place on their mind but after Day 1 Central Washington (A) had the lead by 7 strokes over University of Idaho who was followed by Eastern Washington and Central Washington (B). Individual leader after Day 1 was Tom MacDonald firing a 1-over 73. Closely followed by his teammate at Central Washington was Austin Key firing a 74. Both are new additions to the team and made an impact immediately. Tied with Austin was Jacob Erickson out of Eastern Washington (also team low round of the day). University of Idaho’s low round of the day was shot by Tyler Clavin who shot a smooth 75. For Central Washington (B) the low round belonged to Brad Donahue firing a 77 and keeping his team in the tournament.
As the second day arrived, so did the weather. To start off the day it was nice until about 15 minutes before tee time when the rain and wind started rolling in over the golf course. All the players teed off at 8 AM for their shotgun start. At the end of the day it was a really close race for first place. Eastern Washington led the charge with the team low of the weekend (393) but ended up falling short of a trophy finish by a couple strokes. The University of Idaho is known for their second day comebacks after both regional tournaments in the Fall 2013 when they came back from being down after Day 1, but could it happen again? Idaho fell short of a 3 peat after only one of their players shot in the 70’s and finished the day at 406 as a team.. They took second by 3 strokes and were led by Brandon Drake who was the tournaments Medalist firing 76-74 and keeping his team alive in the tournament. Both Central Washington’s teams fired a 410 the second day but Team A came up with their first trophy in the Northwest Section. The standings after the first tournament in the Northwest Section is Central Washington 6 points, University of Idaho 3 points, and Eastern Washington 1 point.
Thank you to the Canyon Lakes Golf Course Golf Course Staff for their excellent work even with slow paced rounds causing delays on the course. Also a special thanks to Mike Centioli of Centioli Photography for coming out on the first day and taking amazing pictures. Your work is very much appreciated and all the guys love your pictures. You can see Mike’s work at http://www.centioliphotography.com/ he does a great job. Thank You again to the Staff and Mike Centioli.
