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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Freeman’s Ryan Maine in hunt for State 1A boys title

Jim Meehan,The S-R

The first threesome to tee off in the boys State 1A golf tournament took turns on top of the leaderboard.

First it was Freeman junior Ryan Maine, then it was Hoquiam’s John Sand and later it was Cle Elum-Roslyn’s Nick Baker. Sand, the 2014 champion, birdied No. 18 for an even-par 70 Tuesday at Liberty Lake, one shot in front of Baker and two ahead of Maine.

The same three will be in the final group Wednesday and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see more shuffling at the top. Baker defeated Maine in a playoff to win the 2015 championship. Maine and Sand have known each other since they were 10 years old.

Bear Creek’s John Hayes also shot a 72.

“I’m going to have the same mindset as (Tuesday), just be aggressive and try to get off to a good start,” Maine said. “There were just a couple of little things I could have fixed out there.”

Maine started with birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 and was even at the turn. He birdied the par-5 12th with a great shot out of a greenside bunker and a 3-foot birdie putt.

“I just played it really nicely off that slope,” Maine said. “It landed about 20 feet short and checked up a bit.”

Maine dropped back to even with a bogey at 13 before encountering a nightmare on the par-4 15th. He pulled his tee shot and caught a tree, dropping his ball about 190 yards from the green. His approach hit a tree on the right, sending his ball bouncing over the cart part into thick underbrush. He took an unplayable lie, chipped out and made a triple bogey.

“Bad swing off the tee,” Maine said, “and I kind of made a dumb decision trying to go for the green.”

Maine’s playing partners had their share of ups and downs, too. Sand, who turned in 3-under 32, double-bogeyed No. 12 and bogeyed 13 and 15. Baker, 2-over 37 on the front, birdied both par 3s on the back to get to even, then bogeyed No. 17.

Maine finished strong. He made a 7-footer for birdie on the tough par-4 17th and his 7-foot birdie attempt on No. 18 just slid by the right edge. Sand, who has committed to Denver, nearly drove the 330-yard 18th and made a 3-footer for birdie to take the lead.

“If I don’t make the triple I shoot 69, and that (15) is really a birdie hole if you hit a good tee shot,” Maine said. “The comeback was big, going 1 under on the last three. After that triple I could have let it melt down but it was nice to play well coming in.”

– Freeman’s Rhea Jansen shot an 89, nine shots behind girls’ leader Hannah Roh of King’s.