EVERETT — Had Grayson Giboney played his last hole of regulation better, the 15th annual Tom Dolan Invitational golf tournament would never have gone to a playoff.
But Giboney, a King’s High School freshman, recovered from his final-hole bogey — he needed two shots to escape a greenside bunker on the par-3 15th hole — to win a three-player playoff on the first extra hole Monday afternoon at Everett Golf and Country Club.
Giboney, King’s teammate Jack Ryan O’Neil and Ethan Casto of Snohomish all posted even-par 72s in regulation.
“I do a lot of tournaments and this was like my fifth playoff,” said Giboney, who lives in Mill Creek. “But this was by far the biggest crowd and the biggest tournament I’ve had a playoff in.”
The playoff was held on the par-4 No. 1 hole at Everett G&CC. With dozens of players, parents and others looking on, Giboney and Casto both sent their tee shots down the middle, but O’Neil drew his first shot left and had to pitch out to the fairway. He left his third shot short of the green, and then chipped on and putted once for a bogey 5.
Casto reached the green with his approach shot, but his first putt stopped about 4 feet from the hole. After Giboney two-putted from about 20 feet, including an 18-inch tap-in, Casto needed to sink his second putt to extend the match.
Instead his putt lipped the cup and made Giboney the first freshman winner of the Dolan Invitational since the inaugural event in 2002.
With the field using a shotgun start, Giboney began the day on the 16th hole. And at the outset he was having trouble putting his tee shots and approaches in the proper places.
“My first green in regulation and fairway (hit) was on like my sixth or seventh hole. I was just getting up and down from everywhere,” said Giboney, who plays to a 1.6 handicap and is a member at Mill Creek Country Club.
After taking bogeys on two of his first eight holes, he followed with birdies on four of the next nine along with one other bogey. He had tap-in birdies on Nos. 6 and 9, and then rolled in about a 20-foot putt from off the green on the 10th hole. His final birdie came with a 10-foot putt on the par-5 14th hole.
“I made birdies when I needed to,” said Giboney, who totaled just 23 putts in his round.
The tournament included 102 golfers from 22 schools, with most coming from Snohomish County. But the field also included St. George’s School of Vancouver, B.C.
Kamiak won the team title by three strokes over runner-up Archbishop Murphy. It was Kamiak’s sixth team victory in the last nine years.
The Knights were led by Alvin Kwak at 74, followed by Alex Kim at 76 and Devin Kim at 78.
The tournament honors former Everett G&CC member Tom Dolan, who died in 1981. Prior to his death, Dolan gave money to the club and asked that it be used to promote the game to young golfers.
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