EVERETT – Sam Pauley let a six-stroke lead get away in the final round of the 76th-annual Snohomish County Amateur golf tournament, and that was nearly the story Sunday at Everett Golf &Country Club.
Instead, Pauley came from behind over the last two holes – and did so brilliantly, closing with back-to-back birdies – to claim his first County Am title by one stroke over Kelly Denessen.
“For the most part, I was not very pleased with (the round),” Pauley said. “Nothing really felt right. My swing didn’t feel very good most of the day. I didn’t drive the ball that great, my irons were not very good and my putter felt really bad.
“But when it came down to needing to get the job done, I’m pretty proud that I could get the job done. When I really needed to hit shots, my swing was there.”
Pauley, who represents Everett’s Legion Memorial Golf Course, finished with a 3-over-par round of 75 and three-round total of 1-under 215. Denessen, a member at Mill Creek Country Club, had a 3-under 69 for an even-par 216 total, while third place went to Paul Houvener, also of Mill Creek, whose 70 on Sunday put him at 1-over 217.
Over EG&CC’s lush fairways and greens, Pauley was good at times, not so good at others, and his occasional lapses allowed Denessen to turn a six-shot deficit through seven holes into a one-shot lead with only two holes to play.
Pauley, who just finished his junior season at Western Washington University, regained a tie with Denessen with a terrific birdie – a near eagle, actually – at No. 17, setting up a dramatic winner-take-all final hole.
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Photo GalleryMoments later, both men were sizing up birdie putts on the 18th green. Denessen had a downhill 8-footer with a slight break that came up short and left. Then, with the gallery around the green watching in hushed silence, Pauley rolled in a 3-footer for the win.
He reacted by pumping his fist, though his expression was more relief than jubilation.
“A 3-footer to win any tournament is not an easy putt,” Pauley acknowledged. “I was definitely nervous.”
Relief, too, at the outcome. Had he lost after letting such a large lead get away, “I would have had a hard time sleeping tonight,” Pauley said.
Any tossing and turning would have been due to what was nearly a decisive six-hole stretch on the back nine. Pauley had a five-stroke edge on Denessen when the two men teed off on No. 11, and by the time they putted out on No. 16 it was Denessen on top by one.
On those half-dozen holes, Pauley had a bogey and a double-bogey to go with three pars, while Denessen had three birdies and three pars.
Most damaging for Pauley – “A disaster,” he would later say – was No. 15, a 169-yard uphill par-3. He left his tee shot on a small hill between a bunker and the green, and then dropped a chip shot on the putting surface that did almost a complete U-turn as it trickled down a slope away from the hole.
Pauley then missed a 20-foot putt going up the hill and a 2-footer going back down before finally dropping in a return 5-footer for a double-bogey.
Just like that, what remained of his margin was gone.
One hole later, it was Denessen in the lead. On short, tight No. 16, he drove to the front fringe and two-putted while Pauley was taking a par.
Then it was on to the 17th, where Pauley – his back to the wall – responded with two of the best shots of the day by anyone. First, a mammoth drive that ended an inch from the green on the par-4, 324-yard hole. Then he rolled a long putt from one side of the green to a pin tucked in the opposite corner, and had it stop 2 inches past the cup after missing to the side by no more than a half-inch.
Denessen, meanwhile, had a near birdie on 17 and another on 18. He settled for two pars, which he thought might be enough for a win or at least for a tie and a playoff.
“Before I teed off on 17,” Denessen said, “I thought to myself, ‘Go par, par and you should have a good chance.’ And normally that would be OK. But congratulations to Sam because he went birdie, birdie the last two holes.
“I’m happy about the way I played,” he added. “I had a ball out there and it was a good battle. Everybody was having fun.”
The low round of the day went to defending champion Zack Shriver, who had a 5-under 67 to finish in sixth place with a 221 total. Also of note, 14-year-old Reid Martin, representing Harbour Pointe Golf Course, finished in a tie for eighth at 224 after a final-round 76.
In the second division (for handicaps of 6.3 to 10.9), Mike Dalyrimple and Mike Sheehan tied for the low-net victory with 206 totals. The third division winner (for handicaps of 11.0 and up) was Tom Adams with a total of 190.
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