EVERETT — When Luke Wyrick approached his ball just off the green on Hole 18 at Legion Memorial Golf Course on Tuesday, the Kamiak senior was feeling confident in his game.
Kamiak coach Victor Alinen instructed him to chip the ball 10 feet from the hole to set up an easy putt. Wyrick placed it exactly where Alinen wanted him to, then sank the putt to finish the day with an even-71, 10 strokes better than the 81 he finished with a day before.
“Bang! Bang!” teammate Brayden Van Hook shouted as the surrounding spectators applauded the end of the round.
“Great chip! Way to lead us,” Alinen said. “Way to rebound, man.”
Wyrick’s turnaround perfectly encapsulated Kamiak’s Day 2 performance across the board, with all but one of Kamiak’s top four improving by six strokes or more. After entering the round six strokes behind Jackson, the Knights (599) surged past the Timberwolves (607) to win the 2025 District 1 4A Tournament.
After his team ended the first day trailing, Alinen felt they needed a motivator, so he channeled the spirit of a legendary football coach.
“I came up with a Knute Rockne (speech),” Alinen said. “‘Hey, we flipped it before, and we can do it again today.’ And they bought into it, and they played — as you saw — lights out.”
Aaron Choi (146; 73, 73) and Tristan Kim (146; 76, 70) led the way, while Wyrick (152; 81, 71) and Lewis Yoon (155; 82, 73) put together dramatically stronger second rounds to pull off the win. As a team, the Knights shot just three-over par on Tuesday; Jackson was the next-closest at 32-over.
Kamiak’s Tristan Kim hits a drive during the 4A District 1 Boys Golf Championship at Legion Memorial Golf Course on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Alinen’s Rockne impression certainly played its part, but the golfers recognized for themselves that they could overcome Monday’s performance and play to their potential.
“After the round yesterday, we just had a good time talking about the things that went wrong,” Wyrick said. “Focus, and just the little shots, the little things that you do out there. So those things were key today, and then I think we made up (for) a lot of mistakes, and I don’t know, we just stayed consistent.”
Choi pointed to a handful of circumstances that contributed to the first day not going well for Kamiak — including Yoon needing to take a test at school right before, plus Choi himself not feeling 100 percent — but that the group pushed through fatigue and tough holes by focusing on the positive sides of the game.
Even on Tuesday, Choi bounced back from what he called a “lazy” approach on Hole 16, where he left a par putt short and settled for a bogey, and turned around to birdie Hole 17 with a great approach shot.
“The first and second day scores, they were very different, right? And the first day wasn’t as good,” Choi said. “But knowing that we can flip it around, it gives us the confidence that even if we have a bad performance going into the state championship, we can still flip it around. And this changing of momentum really drives our team to be like, ‘Yeah, we got this. We can do it.’”
Kamiak has four golf state championships and is looking for its fifth. After the coronavirus pandemic prevented the 2019 state champions from repeat bids in 2020 and 2021, Alinen is ready for his Knights to return to the mountaintop.
After the mettle this team showed on Tuesday, Alinen believes they are peaking at the right time.
“At state, it’s the cream of the crop. It’s the very best,” Alinen said. “So winning produces winners, and we are now in a process of feeling like winners because we’ve been winning. So my heart is that they buy into it, that they are that good to win another trophy, win a state championship.
“We’re believing ‘Why not this year? Why not 2025?’”
Jackson’s Jacob Kang hits a drive during the 4A District 1 Boys Golf Championship at Legion Memorial Golf Course on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Jackson’s Jacob Kang wins individual title
Making a Day 2 surge of his own, Jackson senior Jacob Kang followed up his even-71 on Monday with a four-under 67 on Tuesday, birdieing four of his last five holes to overtake teammate Henry Kippenhan (139; 70, 69) and win the District 1 4A individual boys golf title with a two-day total of 138.
Despite finishing Day 1 in second place, Kang believed there was more to be desired in his game.
“I left a lot of shots out there, and coming into today, I definitely knew that I could play a lot better,” Kang said. “I had the right mindset, swing was feeling great, and then just tried to stay confident throughout the entire round.”
After plugging through a tough front nine, where he double-bogeyed Hole 8, Kang settled into a rhythm down the back nine to pull ahead of Kippenhan and win the individual title.
Still, it felt more like a consolation prize to the Seattle University commit after Jackson let their Day 1 lead slip.
“I just wish that we could have won as a team, obviously,” Kang said. “But getting an individual win is just like another good thing to have. At least I got (something) out of it today.”
Behind Kang and Kippenhan, the next-best score on the Timberwolves belonged to Zack Byrd (164; 82, 82). Kang believes if the team can stay calm and master the mental side of the game, they’ll fare better at states.
— — — — — —
Team scores— Kamiak (599), Jackson (607), Lake Stevens (654), Glacier Peak (664), Arlington (668)
Top 10 Golfers— 1. Jacob Kang (Jackson) 138 (71-67); 2. Henry Kippenhan (J) 139 (70, 69); t-3. Aaron Choi (Kamiak) 146 (73, 73); t-3. Tristan Kim (K) 146 (76, 70); t-3. Hugo Ramires (Lake Stevens) 146 (71, 75); 6. Kason Swanson (Glacier Peak) 148 (76, 72); 7. Luke Wyrick (Kamiak) 152 (81, 71); 8. Lewis Yoon (Kamiak) 155 (82, 73); 9. Joshua Ament (L) 159 (75, 84); t-10. Cameron Miller (Arlington) 161 (85, 76); t-10. Gavin Smith (L) 161 (81, 80).
Kamiak and Jackson qualify for the state tournament as the top two teams in District 1 4A. The remaining top four golfers qualify as individuals. Arlington’s Cameron Miller beat Lake Stevens’ Gavin Smith in a one-hole playoff to earn the fourth individual spot. Smith and Arlington’s Maverick Vaden will serve as alternates.
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