SNOHOMISH — Throughout his final round, Kevin Beavers never flinched, never wavered. Even with two challengers giving chase, the 32-year-old Beavers made one precise shot after another and the result was a second consecutive Snohomish County Amateur championship Monday afternoon at sunny Snohomish Golf Course.
Beavers, a Boeing engineer and the assistant boys golf coach at Kamiak High School, shrugged off a bogey on the 16th hole — it was his only over-par hole of the day — and closed with two tap-in pars for a round of 1-under 71.
His three-day total of even-par 216 was two strokes better than Monday playing partners Brandon Agnew and Jacob Rohde. Although both were in contention until the final hole, neither could apply enough pressure to make Beavers falter.
“Kevin’s a good player. He’s just a Steady Eddie,” said Agnew, who had a final-round 72.
“Steady Eddie, that’s exactly it,” agreed Rohde, also at 72.
In winning last year’s County Am by six strokes, “I was more nervous to start … and then as the round progressed I slowly became more comfortable,” Beavers said. “Today I started off comfortable, but as the round went on I started to tighten up a little bit. … I’m very proud of myself for hanging tough because it was not easy.”
Beavers began the day with a one-shot lead, but it promptly vanished on the 524-yard uphill par-5 first hole. Agnew had a booming drive and a terrific 3-iron to 5 feet, and then sank the putt for an eagle. It was, he said, “the best way to start a round.”
When Beavers took a par, he had suddenly given up two strokes and the lead. “I was like, “OK, game on.’ But it was so early in the round that I knew it didn’t mean much,” he said. “(Agnew) played a really good hole, but there were so many more holes to go and I didn’t want to let it affect me.”
Three holes later Beavers, Agnew and Rohde were all tied for the lead. But on the sixth hole Beavers rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt from just off the green and he was back in the lead by himself — for good, as it turned out.
Rohde suffered a double-bogey 6 on the sixth hole, and at No. 11 Agnew took a bogey 6 while Beavers was posting his second birdie of the day. At that point his lead was three strokes over both competitors, and by the 13th hole Agnew had dropped five shots back.
But Agnew rallied with a birdie at No. 14 and then another at 16, and on the latter hole Rohde had a par and Beavers his lone bogey. Suddenly the deficit was just two strokes for both rivals with two holes to play.
Down the stretch, Beavers said, “I knew I needed to man up and hit some good shots. … I was (reminding) myself to finish the race and to keep focusing on the task at hand.”
And he did exactly that. Just as he had done for the first 16 holes, he kept the ball in play and settled for tap-in pars, including a winning 1-footer on the final hole.
With the victory, Beavers became the 18th player to win back-to-back County Am titles. Next year he will take aim at becoming only the second player in history to win three in a row — Bob Burton managed the feat in 1973, 1974 and 1975.
“I’ll be back,” vowed Beavers, who dedicated this win to his sister, Erin Beavers of Tualatin, Ore., who will soon deliver Kevin Beavers’ first nephew. A year ago he dedicated his win to his parents, who both died of cancer in 2012. Winning for a second time “means a lot to me and it means a lot to my family because it’s just something positive, which is nice,” he said.
Along with two terrific shots to set up his first-hole eagle, Agnew had probably the highlight shot of the day on the par-4 12th hole. After pulling his tee shot into the left fairway trees, he sent a low, sharply hooking shot all the way to the green about 180 yards away, allowing him to salvage par.
“I made three bogeys in the middle of my round that sort of derailed any momentum I had,” Agnew said. “That was a four-hole stretch I wish I could have back. But all in all it was a good round. I came back (after the bogeys) with a couple of birdies and tried to put pressure on (Beavers), but he played well.”
Rohde, meanwhile, followed an up-and-down front nine — three birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey for a 1-over 37 — with a 1-under 35 on the back nine.
“I was all over the place on the front nine,” he said. “But then something kind of clicked for me on the back, which was nice. … (Beavers) did leave a little crack (in the door) on 16, but I just couldn’t convert (with birdies) on 17 and 18.”
Five-time champion Alex Stamey had a final-round 69, tying for low round of the day, but his chances of a sixth County Am title were undone by an 8-over 80 at Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe Golf Course on Sunday. Stamey finished sixth at 7-over 223.
Daniel Kim won low-net honors in the second divisions (handicaps of 5.1-9.8) with a final-round 70 and a 204 total, four shots better than Daren Darden. Winning the third division (handicaps of 9.9-20.8) was Matthew Harper, who closed with a 67 for a 209 total, two strokes better than Tom Douglas.
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