KELSO — She may just call it a friendly rivalry, but Camas’ Jacinda Lee sure put on a show against Union’s Jade Gruher at the 4A district girls golf tournament at Three Rivers Golf Course.
Lee, a sophomore, followed up Monday’s 2-under-par 70 with another round of 70 on Tuesday to capture the 4A district title over Gruher by two shots.
“It’s like a friendly competition,” Lee said. “We bring out the best in each other. … We grew up playing golf together, so it’s really fun to play with her.”
Lee took one-shot lead into Tuesday’s final round, and she maintained that narrow lead as the two players made the turn on Tuesday.
Then Lee and Gruher matched each other hole for hole until the 17th when Lee converted a birdie putt that would seal her victory.
Lee finished with a 36-hole total of 4-under 140, while Gruher was at 1-under 143.
“The weather was a lot better today, but I would say my game was consistent both rounds,” Lee said.
The team competition was not nearly as tight as the Papermakers eased to victory, outdistancing Union 618-757.
Outside of Gruher, Papermakers held six of the top seven spots. Jasmine Chen was third at 150, followed by Callie Wengler (159), Susannah Gillespie (171), Ella Kim (175) and Julia Strandemo (181).
“We have a really strong team this year, and that really showed a districts this year,” Lee said.
The race to the individual title in the 3A tournament was not nearly as contested. Mountain View’s Annika Lee shot a 79 Tuesday after a first-round 76 gave her a 36-hole total of 155 to win by 44 shots over teammate Kahlia Holmes (198).
“I feel like throughout the season I’ve been getting better, and these two days have showcased that,” Yeh said. “Yesterday was really rainy, but today was nice. The greens were a lot faster today.”
Yeh led Mountain View to the team title over Prairie 782-943. The Thunder’s Camryn Perry was third at 201, followed by Prairie’s Kennedy Higgins (204) and Heritage’s Dakotah Leach (214).
Local 4A and 3A golfers now advance to the bi-district tournaments next week at Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma for the 4As and McCormick Woods Golf Course in Port Orchard for the 3As.
“I played a practice round at McCormick, and it’s a very challenging course,” Yeh said. “So I’m excited to play it and to play with different greens.”
Another highlight from Tuesday’s action was a hole-in-one by Union’s Paige McLean on the No. 3 hole.
“Paige has been like our No. 8 golfer most of the year,” Union coach Gary Mills said. “But she played well enough these last couple of weeks to make district, and then she goes and gets a hole-in-one.”
