@by2:The Columbian
Conner O’Neill shot the round of his life Wednesday, and it made him a state champion.
O’Neill, a junior from Washougal, climbed up the leaderboard with a 4-under-par 68 for a two-day total of 140 and a two-stroke victory in the Class 2A state boys golf tournament at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima.
“It was pretty awesome. A bunch of people came up to me, gave me a handshake,” O’Neill said in a phone interview from Yakima. “I was the state champion.”
O’Neill was four strokes off the lead after Tuesday’s first round. His target number — the score he thought he needed in order to win — was a 67 for the second round.
He didn’t quite get that, but he was plenty good enough with the 68.
“I knew I could play good on this course,” he said.
O’Neill initially thought he missed a golden opportunity when he two-putted for par on what he described as an easy par-5 on the final hole of the tournament.
He turned in his card and noticed he was the clubhouse leader.
First-round co-leader Ryan Wallen of Blaine was still tied for the lead, two groups behind O’Neill.
“I thought I was going to get second,” O’Neill said, figuring Wallen would birdie one of the final two holes. Instead, Wallen found trouble in the home stretch, and O’Neill won by two strokes.
O’Neill called it a stressful round. He drained several putts early, moved to 4-under after 12 holes, and then had to maintain his composure for the final six holes of the round.
“Keep it together and finish it out,” he remembered thinking.
He caught a break on the 13th hole when he barely cleared the water on a par-3. His chip shot was poor, but he made the 15-foot putt to save par.
On the 14th, a break went against him.
“I thought I had made a birdie putt, but it lipped out,” he said.
The last four holes were traditional pars to card the best score of his life.
“It came at the right time,” he said. “I was pretty proud of myself.”
Brett Johnson of Ridgefield followed a first-day 75 with a second-day 71 to tie for fourth place.
In the 3A boys tournament, Camas’ Blake Jones tied for fourth with a two-day total of 146. Scott Kim of Hanford won with a 142. Defending champion Daniel Snoey of Camas tied for ninth. Camas finished fifth as a team.
Andy Long of Skyview was the top finisher among Greater St. Helens League boys in the 4A tournament. Long tied for 12th with a 149, 11 shots behind champion James Feutz of Bellarmine.
Zachary Buerkle of King’s Way finished sixth in the Class B tourney.
In girls play, freshan Chloe Bartek of Columbia River tied for 15th in her first trip in the 3A event, leading her team to an eighth-place finish. Stephanie Swindell of Hockinson was the top local finisher in the 2A tourney, tying for 21st place.
La Center’s Melanie Hodge tied for 13th in the 1A tournament, and Elizabeth Sherertz of King’s Way took fourth in the Class B tourney.
