SNOHOMISH — On the 13th hole of Snohomish Golf Course, during the second round of the District 1 4A girls golf tournament on Wednesday, Chanyoung Park set herself up nicely on the green after hitting the ball over a pond.
The Jackson sophomore lined up her putter, but sent the ball just wide of the hole. Her body slouched in disappointment before she walked over to complete the tap-in. A casual onlooker might have assumed Park had bogeyed, or worse, based on the reaction. In reality, she had settled for par.
A par could have felt relieving after she bogeyed holes 11 and 12, but considering Park beat the all-time women’s course record during the first round on Tuesday with a 67 (five-under par), she set an impossibly high bar for herself. Really anything short of that would feel like a disappointment.
“Today, I wasn’t really able to overcome a bogey,” Park said. “And I just kept crumbling now, today. But it’s a good experience for next time.”
Park did bogey five of her last eight holes, but she also shot par or better on 19 straight holes between the back nine on Tuesday and the front nine plus hole 10 on Wednesday. Even with her rough finish, Park (141; 67, 74) ran away with the District 1 4A title, beating teammate Kayla Kim (151; 72, 79) by 10 strokes.
While Park was disappointed with her second-round 74, it was still the third-best single-round score among all competitors across both days of competition, which includes her record 67 in the first round. That’s an interesting way to define “crumbling.”
“Golf is a game of recovery,” Jackson coach Jerome Gotz said. “And every one of them can probably give you four or five instances out there in the course where they said, ‘You know, I wish this hadn’t happened,’ or ‘I wish this had happened,’ so they have to learn how to deal with adversity. And they did a great job of it.”
With freshman Karen Shin (152; 75, 77) rounding out an all-Timberwolves top three, Jackson (622) won the team title as well, qualifying for the state tournament alongside second-place Kamiak (674).
Led by three underclassmen, the future is now for Jackson.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Gotz said. “They’ve got a pretty bright future ahead of them. They work very hard. They’re very focused. They have taken ownership of their games, and it’s starting to show. So it’s going to be a fun time.”
The individual title capped off a busy week for Park, which will only get busier as she aims to repeat as the 4A state champion next week in DuPont.
After competing in the USGA Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in Nichols Hills, Okla. on Saturday and Sunday, Park flew back home on Monday, then set the course record on Tuesday. Wednesday morning brought a three-hour AP English Language and Composition exam before the second round teed off.
That fatigue — physical and mental — manifested itself on the back nine on Wednesday. As Park’s group walked towards the 18th green, Gotz drove up in a golf cart.
“You are seeing a very tired Chanyoung,” he said.
Out of everything she did this past week, Park felt the exam was the hardest. She likes to clear her head and not think too hard while playing. Wednesday’s round felt like a good break from everything else, even though she was disappointed with the last half.
Now the focus will be on overcoming more fatigue next week, when she will be traveling across the country for her brother’s college graduation before gearing up for the state championship.
“I just try to tell myself there’s still a lot of holes left, so I can recover from this,” Park said. “And I feel like, kind of, talking to my playing partners, like the other people I’m playing with that day, can help clear my head about golf and just rethink it.”
As for Kim, she rebounded from bogeying five of her first nine on Wednesday to doing so just twice between holes 10-16. She double-bogeyed on 17, but birdied on 18 to end her second-place finish on a high note.
With the district title under their belt, the Timberwolves will strive to improve upon last year’s runner-up finish at the state championship.
“I just need to stay consistent with my game, I think,” Kim said. “I was struggling with that a lot more today than yesterday. I’ve had all these ups and downs, but I managed to get over it, and I just want to help my team win state.”
— — — — — —
Team scores—Jackson (622), Kamiak (674), Glacier Peak (726), Arlington (807), Lake Stevens (844)
Top 10 Golfers—1. Chanyoung Park (Jackson) 141 (67, 74); 2. Kayla Kim (J) 151 (72, 79); 3. Karen Shim (J) 152 (75, 77); 4. Sarah Dyer (Kamiak) 159 (79, 80); 5. Allie Suh (K) 165 (85, 80); 6. Makayla Sarigumba (Glacier Peak) 171 (93, 78); 7. Jada May (G) 173 (91, 82); 8. Ashtyn McClure (K) 177 (89, 88); 9. Ashley Kang (K) 178 (90, 88); t-10. Paige Swander (J) 179 (92, 87); t-10. Lindsay Catli (J) 179 (91, 88); t-10. Annie Jung (K) 179 (85, 94).
In addition to Sarigumba and May, Glacier Peak’s Calay McGee (181; 93, 88) and Kamiak’s Alina Kang (183; 94, 89) qualified for the state championship as individuals. Arlington’s Kailey Bisson (189; 103, 86) and Jackson’s Christine Oh (196; 101, 95) are the two alternates.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
Gallery
