Youth sports notebook: Hayden Gamache, Zane Mularski win flights at PNGA Junior Boys Amateur Championship

Hayden Gamache of Gonzaga Prep and Zane Mularski of Mead won flight championships and Gunnar Knutson of Mt. Spokane tied for second in qualifying to lead the showing by area entries in the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Boys Amateur Championship that ended Friday at TimberStone Golf Course in Caldwell, Idaho.

In the PNGA Junior Girls, Courtney Jackson of Central Valley and Kaysa Panke of Davenport were eliminated in the first round of the championship flight.

Gamache, who tied for 49th in qualifying with an 11-over-par 153 and was seeded second in the third flight, defeated Lucas Rynearson of Fruitland, Idaho, 3 and 2 for the flight title.

Mularski, who qualified with a 160 and was seeded sixth in the fifth flight, posted a 2 and 1 win over the No. 1 seed, James Navarro of Renton, for the flight championship. Navarro had eliminated Brayden Ogle of Coeur d’Alene High 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals after Ogle, who also shot 160 in qualifying, had a 3 and 2 first-round win.

Knutson, the Greater Spokane League MVP, was one of three Spokane golfers in the championship flight. He shot a 7-under 137 in qualifying thanks to a 7-under 65 in the first round, and won his first-round match 1-up, but lost 2-up to Nick Lasko of Clackamas, Oregon, in the round of 16.

Lasko had eliminated Matt McGann of Spokane, who qualified with a 144, 2-up in the first round. It was also in the round of 32 that Matthew Durkin fell 3 and 2 to Peter Grossenbacher of Eaton, Colorado, after qualifying with a 141.

Panke, the three-time State 1A/2B/1B champion had tied for 10th in qualifying with a 155 but lost 6 and 5 to Gihoe Seo of Mercer Island, Washington, in the round of 16. Jackson, the No. 14 girls qualifier, lost 2 and 1 to Taylor Koch, the No. 3 seed, from Puyallup, Washington.

Medalist Drew Warford of Snoqualmie, Washington, won the boys championship and Cosette Anderson of Bellevue, who had qualified 13th, was girls champion.

Other flight results for area golfers with qualifying scores in parenthesis:

Boys first flight – Kristof Panke, Davenport (150), lost 3 and 2 in semifinals; Tommy Kimmel, Gonzaga Prep (150), lost on 20th hole in round of 16.

Boys fourth flight – Will Reeves, Gonzaga Prep (156), lost 5 and 4 in round of 16.

Boys sixth flight – Logan Damon, Lewis and Clark (164), lost on 19th hole to Hogan Wafford, Snoqualmie, Washington, in championship match to finish second.

Girls first flight – McKenzie Kalua, Gonzaga Prep (173), lost on 19th hole in semifinals.

• Area entries had three top-five placings in the girls division and one in the boys at the Idaho Junior Amateur Championships last week at Falcon Crest Golf Club in Kuna.

Makena Rauch of Moscow (231), Kami Twining of Central Valley (237) and Courtney Jackson of CV (242) finished 3-4-5, respectively, in the girls division behind winner Carley Carter (217) and runner-up Christine Cho (223), both of Eagle, Idaho.

Rauch was first in girls 16-18 and was crowned the Diamond Line Player of the Year in the division for compiling the most points during season-long competition. Jackson was third in 16-18 while Twining was third in the 13-15 division behind Carter and Cho.

In the boys championship, Braden Ogle of Coeur d’Alene High tied for third at 225. Drew Reinke of Meridian won a one-hole playoff over Jack O’Neil of Parma for the title after both finished 54 holes at 8-over 224.

In the 9-10-year-old divisions, where they played two 9-hole rounds, Amanda Nguyen of Spokane shot 79 for a 25-stroke girls victory while Teigen Brill (76) and Justin Krasselt (79), both of Spokane, finished second and third, respectively, in the boys division.

Other finishes for area golfers:

Boys 16-18 – T7, Cameron Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, 228; T7, Dylan Knight, Rathdrum, 228; 10, Sam Pauly, Downriver, 229; 14, Ryan Chapman, Hayden, 236.

Girls 16-18 – T5, Madeline Christiansen, Spokane, 251; 8, Samantha Dement, Rathdrum, 254; 9, Maddie Moss, Hayden Lake Country Club, 262.

Boys 13-15 – 4, Brayden Miles, Central Valley, 222; T5, Cole Jaworski, Hayden, 224; Garrett Packenbush, Liberty Lake, 228; T16, Carter Sheets, Post Falls, 234. Packenbush’s 6-under 66 in the first round tied for low round of the tournament. Jaworski had a hole-in-one on the 156-yard eighth hole with a 9 iron. Taylor Mortensen of Meridian won the division at 8-under 208.

Girls 13-15 – Twining was the only area golfer who made the cut for the final 18 holes.