Coston Has 69 To Clinch Section Title Leader Overcomes Poor Start To Preserve 10-Stroke Margin

Jeff Coston admitted he was a bit out of his comfort zone entering Wednesday’s final round of the Wilson Pacific Northwest Section PGA golf championship at Spokane Country Club.

The former PGA and Nike Tour veteran was a whopping 10 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor in the elite field of regional pros competing in the section’s next-to-last major tournament of the year.

“It was a strange feeling, leading by 10,” said Coston, who runs his own golf academy out of Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club in Blaine, Wash. “If you don’t win by that many or if you only win by three (strokes), then everybody thinks you’re chop suey.

“It was really weird.”

And Coston responded in a weird manner by making a three-putt bogey - his first of the tournament - on the first hole.

That minor hiccup seemed to serve as a wake-up call. Coston, 41, went on to fire a solid round of 69 that maintained his 10-stroke margin and let him pick up the $5,000 winner’s check.

Coston’s 3-under-par effort, coupled with his remarkable opening rounds of 64 and 65, gave him a 54-hole total of 18-under-par 198. Michael Combs and Brent Murray, who tied for second place at 208 and earned $2,725 each.

Combs fired a final-round 67, while Murray matched Coston’s 69.

The top local finisher was Mark Gardner, the head pro at The Creek at Qualchan, who tied for eighth with a 214 and won $925.

Indian Canyon assistant David Christenson tied for 10th at 216, and Gary Lindeblad, his boss, was one of five golfers who tied for 14th at 217.

But the story was Coston, who countered his early bogey with a near-ace and a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole. Then he toured the back side two more strokes under par.

The victory came just a month after Coston pocketed $12,000 for winning the Rosauers Open, the section’s richest tournament, at Indian Canyon.

“Basically, I feel good about my game right now,” Coston said. “I hit the ball great this week, I thought very well and I putted very well. And that’s a good combination.

“I really like the course here. The greens are superb and I really felt comfortable and at home. Spokane has been awfully good to me. Maybe I should move here.”

, DataTimes