They’re talented Titan twins

In the spring of Mandy and Haley Parsons’ freshman year at Horizon Junior High, they needed something to do.

Their father picked up a couple of sets of used golf clubs, the two turned out for the golf team at University and within three years, the twins had earned scholarships to play collegiately at Washington State.

Both have made two appearances on the second day at the State 4A tournament and two all-Greater Spokane League teams, astonishing developments for picking up the game so late.

“When they first started, I watched them swing, and just said, ‘You guys have a gift that is God-given. You ought to try and pursue this,’ ” said their father, Casey Parsons, who played at U-Hi, Spokane Falls Community College and Gonzaga University, then appeared in 63 major league baseball games over four seasons in the 1980s. “It took them a year to see golf is what they wanted to do and get serious.”

Mandy and Haley initially gravitated toward softball, a natural move considering their dad’s background. In junior high, softball is a fall sport, so that opened up the spring.

“We picked (golf) up for fun and it was actually a lot harder than we thought it would be,” Haley said. “We stuck with it because we got good.”

Still, their sophomore year, the two started the season shooting in the 90s and 100s, but improved throughout the spring and made the state tournament. Naturally, they shot identical scores there, going 86-85 to tie for 23rd in state.

That summer, Mandy and Haley got involved in the Washington Junior Golf Association, and the next year at state, the two improved their scores.

Haley shot an 81-81 to tie for 16th place, and Mandy was five strokes behind her sister, in 27th place.

Last summer, they took another step up in competition, entering American Junior Golf Association tournaments, where they came in contact with Washington State women’s golf coach Walt Williams.

“We pretty much just played in a lot of tournaments over the summer,” Mandy said. “Walt came to a lot and we sent letters to a lot of schools. At one of the tournaments, he said he was interested in us, and then at one of the last AJGA events, he came up and asked me.”

Washington State’s offer was a perfect fit for the two.

“Colleges were either interested in one or the other,” Casey Parsons said. “They had the opportunity to play together and it’s at a Pac-10 school, and that’s where they want to go.”

This year, Mandy and Haley have improved their play accordingly. Mandy is third in scoring in league meets, averaging 76.75 strokes a round. Haley is right behind her, fourth in the league with a 78 average.

And once their final state tournament comes around, the two will experience a little home-course advantage, playing at MeadowWood.

“We haven’t played very well in the last two go-rounds (at state),” Haley said. “So being at our home course, it does give us an advantage. Playing there, you know the greens and you know where not to be and the troubles in certain holes. Other than that, you just have to play the course smart.”

After Casey’s playing career, he turned to managing, and ascended all the way to Triple-A Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League. He hung it up in 1995 and the family moved back to Spokane a couple of years after Casey’s wife, Penne, had another daughter, Kaitlen, now 13.

The nomadic life of a professional manager had worn thin, but the experiences stuck with the girls even today.

“We moved around a lot, so we were home-schooled,” Haley said. “I remember being at the pool a lot and the baseball part. It was a good childhood.”

Their travels included a winter in the Dominican Republic, where Casey managed Licey to a Caribbean World Series title.

“We made a lot of friends down there,” Mandy said. “We saw the poverty, and saw the sugar cane fields. It was an eye-opener.”

Casey was the professional athlete in the family, but there is an innate feel for the game of golf that probably comes from Penne, who plays regularly and has a brother who was a PGA professional in Atlanta.

University girls golf coach Dale Bouge sees the two relentless practice players fitting in well on the college level, because of a combination of their competitive nature and natural ability.

“They’re just these tiny little things that can hit the ball 300 yards,” Bouge said. “They just have this incredible timing and most of the time hit it long and straight.”

Even though they are identical, they admit their golf games don’t match.

Haley said she probably has the better short game, and Mandy’s better with her driver and approach shots.

“If we put them together, we’d be pretty good,” Mandy said.

Next year, at Washington State, Haley and Mandy will live together in a dormitory, with an eye toward making the traveling team. They both want to study business, but Mandy would like to eventually go to law school.

As their senior year winds down, they appreciate the uniqueness of being identical twins.

“They have really done well together,” Casey said. “They continually push each other. Obviously, they’re twins, and that’s a close bond. There’s an internal competition between them, too. They have a built-in practice mate.”

“We can help critique each other’s swings,” Haley said. “It’s like always having someone there.”