Seasoned pros lurking at Snohomish County Amateur

Published 10:52 pm Sunday, May 30, 2010

MARYSVILLE — The kids still have the top two spots on the leaderboard, but there are savvy veterans in close contention through two days of the 80th-annual Snohomish County Amateur golf tournament, setting up what could be a dramatic final round today.

John Pechan, a senior at Bothell High School who represents Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe Golf Club, had a 2-under-par round of 68 at Marysville’s Cedarcrest Golf Course on Sunday, giving him a two-day total of 5-under 137. That puts Pechan one stroke ahead of Brian Barhanovich of Everett Golf and Country Club entering today’s round.

Barhanovich, a member of the Western Washington University golf team, had the day’s best round Sunday with a 6-under 64 at Cedarcrest.

Nine other golfers are within six shots of the lead. Among them are defending champion Stephen Lee of Everett G&CC (141), four-time champion Alex Stamey of Everett G&CC (142), three-time winner Bob Burton of Harbour Pointe (143), and former champ Jeff Strickland of Harbour Pointe (143).

And on the tight, tree-lined fairways at Everett G&CC, site of today’s final round, nerves and know-how could well turn out to be deciding factors.

As Lee pointed out, “I certainly feel it’s an advantage to have been there and done that.”

Still, through two rounds no one has played better than the 18-year-old Pechan, the youngest of the top contenders and the only golfer to play under par for both of the first two rounds. He handled a steady rain on Saturday for a 3-under-69 at Everett’s Legion Memorial Golf Course, and followed with Sunday’s 2-under 68 at Cedarcrest.

Not bad for someone who was on crutches for much of the winter and early spring after breaking his right foot while playing indoor soccer in January. He underwent surgery and was out of golf for 31/2 months, and just started playing again about a month ago.

On Sunday Pechan had four birdies and nine pars through the first 13 holes, but then gave back two strokes with bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes at Cedarcrest.

Pechan is looking forward to playing at Everett G&CC today, where a large gallery usually shows up for the County Am’s final round.

“I like having people watching me play,” he said, “but I don’t know how I’ll handle it. I’m usually really focused, but I’ve just been off golf for so long. I haven’t been in that type of situation for almost five months, so I’m not seasoned with that kind of thing.”

The 21-year-old Barhanovich, meanwhile, was in the final round’s last foursome a year ago, but a case of jitters — “I was nervous at the start,” he admitted — helped lead to a 4-over 76 that left him tied for fifth, eight shots behind Lee, the eventual winner.

This year, he said, “I think I’ll be less nervous and more comfortable, and I’ll able to take it all in and enjoy it more.”

And if he plays like he did on Sunday, Barhanovich could be tough to beat. He was good at the start with two birdies and seven pars on the first nine holes, and even better on the back side with four birdies and five pars.

“For the last couple of weeks I’ve been hitting it great,” he said. “I hit it great (Saturday) at Legion, but I didn’t putt very well at all (during a round of 2-over 74). … But I could see this coming.”

Lee shrugged off a disappointing 3-over 75 on Saturday with a 4-under 66 to jump back into contention on Sunday and give himself a chance to defend last year’s title. His round was highlighted by a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 6, and then back-to-back 60-footers on the 10th and 11th holes.

The two long putts gave Lee five birdies in the first 11 holes, and at that point he paused to ask Cedarcrest head pro Dave Castleberry about the course record. “I came in 1 over after that,” Lee said with a smile, “and Dave told me I shouldn’t have asked him.”

Today’s final round at Everett G&CC begins at 10:10 a.m. The final foursome, which tees off at 1 p.m., includes Pechan, Barhanovich, Lance Kilbride of Harbour Pointe (139) and Reid Martin of Everett G&CC (140). The previous foursome of Lee, Stamey, Kung Chih Chang of Harbour Pointe (140) and Matt Epstein of Everett G&CC (142) tees off at 12:50 p.m.

The second division, for golfers with handicaps of 5.1 to 11.2, played its second round at Everett G&CC. Doug Baker of Marysville’s Battle Creek Golf Course, shot a net 68 for the low-net lead of 137, one stroke better than Steve Wanaka of Everett G&CC, who had a 72 on Sunday.

The third division, for golfers with handicaps of 11.3 to 20.8, was also at Everett G&CC. Carl Tinglestad of Cedarcrest had a net 66 for a low-net 130, four shots better than Tim Romo of Battle Creek, who had a 67.

The second and third divisions will be at Legion Memorial for today’s final round.