It was a rough start to the round for Columbia River sophomore golfer Chloe Bartek.
But, oh, what a finish.
Bartek recorded a personal-best 18-hole round with a 3-over-par 76 at Lewis River Golf Course on Wednesday, rolling to the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League’s district girls golf championship.
“It was pretty amazing,” Bartek said. “I was really focused. I almost gave up my lead in the first four holes. I pulled it all together and just kept fighting. It was such a blur.”
Bartek had a four-shot lead after Monday’s opening round, and the lead was down to one after just two holes. She found her groove on the fifth hole and cruised.
Her two-day total of 156 ended up 14 strokes better than second-place finisher Maddy Ward of Prairie. Mountain View’s Amelia Dale and Rachel Kim finished third and fourth, leading the Thunder to the team title.
Bartek opened the day with a three-putt for bogey while Ward made birdie. On the second hole, Bartek had another bogey while Ward drained a 40-foot par putt to pull within a stroke.
Bartek would settle down with a par on No. 3 but a bad drive on No. 4 led to another bogey.
Ward never did tie the match, but it was still close until Bartek pulled away with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5 and 6. The rest of the round was full of pars and a few bogeys until the 18th, when Bartek finished with a 7-foot birdie putt — an exclamation mark on an exceptional round.
“I think I realized it on No. 17. That’s when I actually thought about it,” Bartek said. “I looked at my scorecard and went, ‘Wow. Pretty safe to say I’m going to be the district champion.’ ”
Then she punctuated the day with that final birdie.
“It was a lot of fun. My teammates were hugging me, and they were jumping all over. They were so excited,” Bartek said. “They gave me a big cheer when they called my name for being first.”
And she got a series of congratulatory hugs and high-fives from opponents, and the families of opponents, making the day even more special.
“It was just an amazing round,” Bartek said.
Using the point system, Mountain View edged Prairie for the team title, 160-155.
Prairie’s Amanda Poore, Columbia River’s Mela Ana Kastner, and Camas’ Yushuan Peng rounded out the top seven, automatically qualifying for the Class 3A state tournament. The next 10 golfers advance to next week’s bi-district tournament for one last opportunity to qualify for state.
