Second Straight Aaa Golf Crown In Holt’s Sights More To The Point, Mead Senior Wants To Play Her Best; State A/B In Spokane

Britney Holt is willing to tip her cap to anyone who can beat her - just as long as it isn’t Britney Holt.

The Mead senior tees off at the Yakima Elks course today to begin defense of the State AAA girls golf championship with just one thing in mind.

“I don’t really care if I win, if I play well,” Holt said after wrapping up the District 8 title. “I love to win, of course. Everybody loves to win. But if you win and you don’t really play well, it doesn’t mean much.”

One of the premier golfers in the Greater Spokane League the past three season, Holt admits she lost her focus midway through the season.

“I lost my mental game for a while. I didn’t have the confidence I usually have,” she said. “I didn’t have much interest in golf. I don’t want to sound bad, but I was kind of frustrated playing like I was. Even though I was winning, I didn’t live up to my expectations.”

Her game came around at the end of the season when she was matched against the best in the league. A slight adjustment in her swing and she shot a 73 at MeadowWood to close out her third District 8 championship.

“I don’t think I’m too hard on myself. I expect a lot of myself because I know I’m capable of playing better,” she said. “It’s going to be nice to go on to college and play against new competition and take my game to a higher level.”

After the two-day, 36-hole tournament (Wednesday’s round is at Appletree), Holt will play a full summer of junior events before going to the University of New Mexico.

“I love the course, the team is nice and so is the coach,” Holt said. “The course is one of the top 100 courses in the country. It’s not too far from Salt Lake City; that’s where most of my family is.”

First, though, she has one more goal in high school.

“It’s important to win the last tournament,” she said. “I’d like to have the title, but if I play well and lose, I wouldn’t be upset. There’s a lot of other girls that can play really well.”

One would be her teammate, Sara Northcutt. The pair has combined to give Mead the third-place team the last two years.

Ferris has four girls going to state, which makes the Saxons one of the favorites for the team title. They won two years ago at Downriver but finished second last year in Tacoma.

Junior Bridget Johnson, making her third trip to state, leads the Saxons. Also going are Laura Hicks, Hilary Prugh and Jamie Seefried.

Last spring, Cascade beat Ferris by 2-1/2 points for the team title. In 1995, the Saxons beat Cascade by 22 strokes for the championship. Johnson and Prugh played on that winning team.

Bellarmine has won the last two boys titles. Last year, Jess Daley of Oak Harbor won medalist honors over teammate Lucas Horrobin, who is returning.

A team title for the GSL is a long shot. Only eight golfers qualified, and Mead and Ferris are taking just two each.

Mead’s Brian Fong won the district title by a shot over Michael Hastings of Ferris.

A/B golf in Spokane

Ryan Benzel of Ritzville is back for another shot at the state title he lost by a stroke last year at MeadowWood.

The only trouble is that Ryan Whitaker of Cle Elum, who beat him and Blaine’s A.J. Moul, is back trying for his third title.

Whitaker trailed Moul by five strokes after the first day.

Cascade-Leavenworth easily won the team title last year.

The boys play at Hangman Valley Golf Club, starting at 9 a.m. both days.

The Ritzville girls won their third straight state title last year with just one senior on the roster. This year, the girls move from Liberty Lake to Downriver, starting at 7:52 a.m. today and 8 a.m. Wednesday.

AA golf in Tacoma

Olympia won the boys and girls title at Yakima a year ago. That site made it a little easier for Kelli Kamimura of Sunnyside, now a junior, to win her second individual girls title.

West Valley’s Melanie Laroque leads the Frontier League girls. Pullman’s Ryan Ressa won the boys title.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: STATE GOLF AAA boys at Appletree Golf Course, Yakima. AAA girls at Yakima Elks Golf Course, Yakima. AA boys at Spanaway Lake Golf Course, Tacoma. AA girls at Meadow Park Golf Course, Tacoma. A/B boys at Hangman Valley Golf Course. A/B girls at Downriver Golf Course.