EVERETT — If this whole golf thing doesn’t work out for Reid Martin, the U.S. Postal Service would likely snatch him up in a heartbeat.
Neither rain, nor cold, nor wind, nor fatigue could stop the Kamiak junior on Monday, as he shot 7-under 65 — just one stroke shy of teammate Dylan Goodwin’s winning score from a year ago — to win the Seventh Annual Tom Dolan Memorial Golf Tournament at Everett Golf and Country Club.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I know there are a lot of good players here and great competition. There’s a lot of great past champions, so it really means a lot.”
His score also propelled Kamiak to the team title with 307 points. Kamiak won the title in 2005 and 2006, and the defending 4A-state champion Knights were elated to reclaim the title after Jackson won it last year.
“It does (feel good), because I felt like last year we had a good team but we just didn’t come through at the right time,” Kamiak coach Jeff Tobin said. “To do it this year, that’s great.”
But Monday was Martin’s show, even after his flight home from a weekend tournament in Palm Springs was delayed, allowing him just three hours of sleep Sunday night.
“I was a little bit (tired),” Martin said. “I got to sleep at about 3 a.m. and got up at six, (but) no, I don’t think it (hindered me).”
The soggy afternoon quickly shaped up into a two-man race between Martin and University of Washington-bound Jens Bracht of Shorecrest.
Playing in the same foursome, Martin birdied four of the first nine holes to Bracht’s three, giving Martin the 32-33 edge after nine holes of play.
Martin began to distance himself on the back nine, garnering birdies on three straight holes at one point, to finish with five birdies over the final nine holes of play.
“(My goal) was to win — to do whatever it took to win,” Martin said. “Whatever the conditions were, just to handle the conditions and win.”
Indeed, the conditions were wretched for most of the day. A light rain turned heavy midway through the front nine, before tapering off toward late afternoon. That yielded colder temperatures and a slight wind, but Martin battled through to claim the four-stroke victory over Bracht.
“The conditions were tough — 65 is really a fine score under those conditions,” Tobin said. “Those were tough scoring conditions, so yeah I’m really proud of that.”
Tobin also added that he was happy with the way his team performed with most of the Wesco North and South in attendance.
“Today we saw some of the teams we’ll be competing within our league and our district tournaments,” he said. “To know that we can compete with those guys when it comes to league and districts and such gives our kids confidence that we can at least make a good showing.”
Bracht was predictably disappointed after falling from contention down the back nine, which he said was due to his putting.
“I’m disappointed I didn’t win, but Reid’s a great player, so if there’s anyone to lose to, it’s him,” he said.
Martin and Bracht were the only two golfers to shoot under par, as Oak Harbor’s Phil Reedy finished third with 1-over 73. Barret McGinnis of Jackson won a chip-off to claim fourth place over Snohomish’s Mike Jaeger. Both golfers shot 74.
Defending tourney champion and UW-bound Goodwin finished a fairly distant ninth with a score of 78, a score that tied him with Snohomish’s Dylan Stensland and Oak Harbor’s Eric McCardle. Sultan’s Brad Green was the top Cascade Conference finisher, shooting 80 to finish in a tie for 15th.
Jackson and Snohomish both recorded team scores of 320 and Oak Harbor was fourth at 328.
The event, which is in its seventh year, is named for former Everett Golf and Country Club member Tom Dolan, who willed a significant amount of money to the Club to “promote the game of golf to the younger generations,” according to a statement furnished by the Club.
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