Locals atop leaderboard

Nick Grigsby shot out to an early lead and Amy Eneroth had to scratch and claw to stay on top, but both find themselves in the same position after one day of the State 4A golf tournament.

They’re both in first place.

Grigsby, a junior from Central Valley, birdied the first two holes at Indian Canyon on the way to a 6-under-par 66, including 31 on the front nine, and Eneroth, a Mead senior, played a long back nine at MeadowWood at 1-over to remain tied atop the girls leaderboard.

Grigsby leads by one stroke over Kennewick’s Kevin Tucker and is three strokes ahead of Rogers-Puyallup’s Jason Moore, Walla Walla’s Max Reinland and Chris Cho of Kentridge.

A hot start was crucial for Grigsby, who played the front nine at 5-under.

“I didn’t miss a green (on the front nine),” Grigsby said. “I hit a couple good wedges and went birdie-birdie on the first two holes. There were no huge mistakes. I think that’s really important.”

The first two holes are a couple of short par-5s, and Grigsby took advantage.

“It’s kind of one of those things where I play them as par-4s,” Grigsby said. “Two birdies there almost feel like two fives, but it’s a booster because they’re birdies. You could just as easily go eagle-eagle.”

Grigsby came back to the pack a little on the back nine, shooting a 1-under 35, but he erased a couple of bogeys with an eagle on the par-5 12th hole and a birdie on 18.

The district champions from the west side failed to get going, as Everett’s Jacob Koppenberg shot a 71 and Kellen Eakin of Curtis, Tyler Matthews of Inglemoor and Alex Williams of Skyview all carded even-par 72s.

Two sophomores from Ferris, Dustin Poe and Tyler Lynn, shot 71, and Tyler Nelson of Shadle Park went in at an even-par 72.

Grigsby knows there will be pressure with taking a lead into the final 18 holes.

“If you’re not nervous, then you don’t care about it,” Grigsby said. “I’m good friends with both the guys (in the final group), it’ll probably be a talkative group until 15 and then we’ll kind of bear down.”

Several girls shot in the mid-30s on the front nine at MeadowWood, but the back nine separated the contenders from the rest.

Eneroth and Kentridge junior Christine Cho are deadlocked at 73 with defending champion Chris Yun, a senior from Bellarmine Prep, a shot back at 74.

Gonzaga Prep’s Annie Brophy is fourth with a 76, and University’s Mandy and Haley Parsons are tied for fifth at 77.

“I played good on some holes, and not so good on others,” Eneroth said. “There were a few mental mistakes, I three-putted two or three times.”

Eneroth handled the length of the back nine, which sent most players spiraling into the high 70s and low 80s, but did struggle a little with the speed of the greens, as she three-putted 15 and 17 for bogeys.

“Yesterday in the practice round, they were really slow,” said Yun of the greens, which were soaked by the overnight rain. “I couldn’t get a feel for the break, and they were rolling a lot faster.”

Cho stayed tied with Eneroth thanks to a couple of nice saves late in the round.

After a birdie on 15, Cho topped her second shot on the 16th hole and recovered for par. On the 17th hole, Cho hit her tee shot on the 115-yard par-3 over the green and into the woods on the other side. She played a difficult second shot back on the rough and then almost holed out for par before tapping in for a hard-earned bogey.

Lewis and Clark’s Molly Fuhs sits tied for eighth, five shots back at 78, despite a 41 on the back nine.

“It is a little bit more challenging on the back nine,” Fuhs said. “There’s water that comes into play a little bit more, and they moved the tees back a lot, which made a big difference for me and a lot of people.”