Like father before him, Lee wins County Am

Published 11:21 pm Monday, May 25, 2009

EVERETT — History was made during Monday’s final round of the 79th annual Snohomish County Amateur golf tournament, and it had nothing to do with Alex Stamey.

With Stamey coming up short in a bid to tie longstanding tournament marks with his fifth career and third consecutive County Am title, the day belonged to 33-year-old Stephen Lee, who crafted a steady even-par round of 72 for a winning three-day total of 4-under-par 210 at Everett Golf and Country Club.

Second-place went to Kris Jackson, who finished at 1-under 213. Three-time County Am champ Bob Burton and second-round leader Reid Martin tied for third at 1-over 215.

Lee’s victory follows tournament wins by his father Bob Lee in 1969 and 1972, making the Lees the first father-and-son duo to claim County Am championships.

“I don’t tend to get too sentimental about these things,” said Stephen Lee, an Everett G&CC member. “But when I look back in the future I think I will consider this an accomplishment to be real proud of.”

His father, meanwhile, was mighty proud right away.

“Oh, gosh, I just couldn’t be more pleased,” said Bob Lee, who caddied for his son on Monday. “I just couldn’t be happier for him and happier for myself.”

There have been other fathers and sons who have contended over the years, of course. In fact, Jeff Strickland and his son Mark Strickland played together in Monday’s next-to-last foursome, and both were seven shots off the lead heading into the closing round.

But until Stephen Lee rolled in a short clinching putt on the 18th green, there had never been two winners from the same household.

“It feels real good,” said a beaming Bob Lee afterward.

Stephen Lee, who has taken over his father’s Everett dental practice, began the day one shot behind Martin, a 17-year-old senior at Kamiak High School. But Lee’s birdie and Martin’s double-bogey on the second hole was a three-stroke swing and Lee was on top to stay.

He would go on to a round of four birdies, four bogeys and 10 pars, It was hardly spectacular, but on a day when just two players went under par — Burton and Chris Vargas, both with 1-under 71s over Everett G&CC’s tight, tricky fairways — it was more than enough.

“I had a ‘Don’t do anything stupid’ mentality from the first hole,” said Lee, a 1994 graduate of Mariner High School. “I felt that if I went out there and played mistake-free golf, the course is just too tough right now for a player to be hitting drivers all day long and get away with it.”

Knowing the rough was high and unforgiving, Lee’s driver never left his bag. He hit a 3-wood off the tee just twice, and otherwise used his 1-iron and 3-iron on the par 4s and 5s. A strategy, he said, aimed at “keeping my ball in play.”

But if Lee was good from tee to green, he was even better once he reached the putting surface with one-putt birdies on the second, sixth, ninth and 13th holes.

“I made a lot of putts in the 10-foot range,” he said. “And I’ve been practicing my putting a lot lately. All three days, my putter was solid and that helped.”

Yes, there were occasional blemishes. There was, for instance, an embarrassing short bump-and-run chip on No. 15 that rolled up a hill and then rolled right back down, leading to a bogey.

But Lee was good when he had to be. And when he wasn’t very good, he still wasn’t very bad.

“He’d hit a bad shot (off the tee) and come back with a good approach shot to give himself a chance at par,” said Jackson, who played in Lee’s foursome. And in the aftermath of any miscues, Jackson added, “he stayed cool.”

Yes, Lee kept his emotions in check, and likewise his tongue. He hardly spoke a word to anyone except his father, and even those player-caddy exchanges were concise.

“Today I was in my own little world,” Lee acknowledged. “I feel bad not acknowleging the well-wishers, but I think I had to stay in my own element to prevent any disasters. … I might have slipped (a smile) in here or there, but I had a lot of work to do and I wasn’t going to distract myself. Or allow distractions to me.”

“My job,” said Bob Lee, “was to give him the best advice I could if he asked for it, but (otherwise to) stay out of his way.”

Winning “is more a sense of having a monkey off my back,” Stephen Lee said. “I think a lot of people I know have expected me to win this, and I finally pulled it off.

“But my dad’s won two and I’ve only won one,” he added with a smile, “so there’s still work to be done.”

Stamey, who has four County Am titles including wins in 2007 and 2008, was three strokes off the lead following Saturday’s first round and never made a serious run at the championship. He finished tied for ninth at 7-over 214.

The second division, for players with handicaps between 5.1 and 10.7, played its final round at Everett’s Legion Memorial Golf Course. Carl Everts was the low net winner with a 9-under 205, four strokes better than runnerup Jerry Slind.

The third division, for players with handicaps of 10.8 and higher, also played its final round at Legion Memorial. The low net winner was Dale Ingrum with a 17-under total of 197. Tying for second place were Doug Baker and Jay Snyder at 11-under 203.

Stephen Lee looks through a rangefinder as his dad, Bob Lee, instructs him during the final round of the Snohomish County Amateur on Monday.