Talent abounds on links
In the Greater Spokane League’s past, a talented female golfer could get away with not being on top of her game.
Those days are long gone.
With 11 of 13 all-leaguers returning from last season, when the competition had already improved, this season promises to be one of the toughest.
“In the five years I’ve been here, this is by far the deepest,” Mead high school girls coach Don Beloved said. “It’s just going to be a dog fight for the state positions. You go on down the line and start counting the automatics and the spots start filling up really fast.”
One of those automatics will be Mead’s Amy Eneroth. The Washington State University-bound senior is a three-time all-GSL and 2004 Washington Junior Golf Association player of the year.
Eneroth’s work ethic should rub off on the rest of the Panthers, who finished second as a team in the first league event in Clarkston on Monday.
“She’s something the other girls try to be,” Beloved said of Eneroth. “All that she is didn’t just come from looking at her clubs. Whatever she gets, she has worked hard for.”
Junior Sarah Villalovoz, a second-team choice last year, and freshman Lauren Howell, who shot an 82 Monday, should help Mead battle for the top of the league with last year’s co-champions Lewis and Clark and Gonzaga Prep, as well as University.
LC returns three all-leaguers from last year – juniors Molly Fuhs and Allison Moran and sophomore Katrina Bech. G-Prep brings back first-team all-league performer Annie Brophy, a junior, and U-Hi has a pair of golfers headed to WSU – senior twins Haley and Mandy Parsons.
Eneroth won the first league event by shooting a 72, four shots clear of Brophy. LC won the team title at 426, four shots ahead of the Panthers.
On the boys’ side, there aren’t as many all-leaguers returning, but of the seven that are, three belong to defending champion Ferris.
Returning for Ferris is all-league sophomores Tyler Lynn, Dustin Poe and Sean Bulger, as well as another sophomore, Ryan Jones, who posted a top-12 finish on Monday. Seniors Curtis Heyamoto and Luke Sedler, both with low-scoring potential, round out Ferris’ squad.
“If the kids mature and realize what they’re capable of, we should be able to win the league,” Ferris boys head coach Clarence Hough said. “We’re also capable of challenging for a state title.”
Poe finished 13th in the State 4A tournament last year, and Lynn missed the cut by one stroke.
Hough said the team’s challenge is finding someone to replace former Saxons player Craig Leslie, now golfing for UCLA.
“I think having Craig really helped them a lot,” Hough said. “But at the same time, they came to expect Craig to do what he was doing. It’s always nice to have an ace in the hole, but we’re trying to get them to see themselves in the same role, as the guy we can count on.”
Clarkston, Mead and G-Prep will challenge the Saxons atop the league. Clarkston won the season-opener on its home course, led by the 72 of junior Joel Dahmen, the 2003 State 3A champion. The Bantams also added some depth this year, including Robert Lane, who finished third Monday with a 75.
CV junior Nick Grigsby and G-Prep senior Brad Blakley, both first-teamers last year, are poised to challenge for the individual district championship. Grigsby tied Dahmen atop Monday’s leaderboard, and Blakley was this summer’s Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Boys Amateur champion.
The next league competitions are April 12 at Wandermere for the boys and April 13 at Esmeralda for the girls.