EVERETT — Chris Vargas only recently regained his amateur golfing status. But he’s already using it to great effect.
Vargas shot a 4-under-par 68 to take the first-round lead at the Michelob Ultra Snohomish County Amateur golf tournament on Saturday at Walter Hall Golf Course.
Vargas, a 29-year-old insurance advisor who resides in Mill Creek, was a professional at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore before regaining his amateur status last year. The 2007 Jackson High School graduate played in the County Am prior to becoming a pro, one time even playing in the final group, but never came close to winning the tournament. This is his first time playing the County Am since giving up his professional status.
Vargas, representing Mill Creek Country Club, made eight birdies Saturday en route to his 68, which gave him a one-shot lead over Tanner Parot and Joe Hardy heading into Sunday’s second round at Harbour Pointe Golf Club in Mukilteo.
“I played pretty great,” Vargas said. “I made a lot of putts that I needed to, so that was fortunate. I was fortunate to have a good draw on the tee times, I was a little earlier than most guys in the (first) flight.”
That earlier start time meant Vargas avoided most of the rain that began about mid day and forced much of the field to play in difficult conditions. Vargas was 4-under on the back nine.
“I missed a short putt on the first hole to make bogey to start, so that was a little rough,” Vargas said. “Then I made a 30- or 40-footer on the second for birdie, so that was a nice bounce back there. I didn’t make a lot of pars today, it was kind of an up-and-down round, but the eight birdies helped the score.”
Parot, representing Kenwanda, had birdies on three of the final four holes to get to 3-under. Hardy, representing Everett Golf and Country Club, had nearly a clean round, bogeying only one hole to also come in at 3-under.
Defending champion Jacob Rohde was one more stroke back at 2-under. He was tied with Andrew Martin for fourth. Kamiak High School star Alvin Kwak, who came in with the low handicap, was tied with Quinton Borseth and Joel Micka at 1-under.
2019 Snohomish County Amateur
Saturday’s first round
at Walter Hall G.C.
Flight 1 (+3.8-5.0)
Gross scores, Par 72 (6,426 yards)
Chris Vargas, MC 68
Joe Hardy, EGCC 69
Tanner Parot, Ken 69
Andrew Martin, EGCC 70
Jacob Rohde, LM 70
Quinton Borseth, EGCC 71
Alvin Kwak, EGCC 71
Joel Micka, MC 71
Austin Duffy, EGCC 72
Ace Younggren, Sno 72
Halen Davis, WH 73
David Hansen, PGD 73
Brian Barhanovich, EGCC 74
Jordan Brajcich, SR 74
Steven Edelman, MC 74
Stephen Lee, SR 74
Richard Slikker, EGCC 74
Alex Stamey, EGCC 74
Mark Strickland, HP 74
Todd Tibke, Sno 74
Patrick Boag, EGCC 75
Ethan Casto, Sno 75
Sean Fallows, HP 75
William Fretz, EF 75
Kris Jackson, HP 75
Jerry Slind, Sno 75
Jason Calamaro, LM 76
Ty Cannon, Sno 76
Matthew Kornegay, HP 76
Cody Oakes, Glen 76
Scott Rohlinger, LM 76
Justin Towle, WH 76
Brett Curtis, WH 77
Duane Diede, EGCC 77
Noboru Koga, Sno 77
Mike Ross, HP 77
Eddie Lee, HP 78
Chris Giesker , WH 79
Tyler Stocker, SV 79
Kye Jung Yun, HP 79
Nick Dammann, EGCC 80
Nick Rothrock, Glen 80
Brian Wallace, SV 80
Dan Frost, PGD 81
Scott Hinrichs, WH 81
Lance Kilbride, HP 81
Ronny Kildall III, BC 81
Drew Preston, Ced 81
Mike Seek, EGCC 81
Alexander Buchholz, PGD 82
David Fugate, Ced 82
Dennis Diede, EGCC 83
Robert Kaindl, WH 83
Paul Reni, Sno 83
Nick Solheim, LM 83
Bill Steward, EGCC 85
Zach Cabe, Jor 88
Michael Matson, LM 89
Damon Parot, Ken 91
Alex Raynor, BC 95
Jeff Strickland, EGCC WD
Flight 2 (5.0-9.9)
Net scores, Par 72 (6,057 yards)
Mark Johnson, Jor 65
Brien Hansen, LM 70
Will Robbins, WH 67
Eric Haechrel, Sno 70
Derik Millich, BC 71
Gus Pishue, EGCC 70
Anthony Preston, LM 71
Andrew Kephart, WH 71
Sunghun Kim, Jor 71
Ethan Merritt, Jor 69
Martin Seguin, WH 73
Ajinder Handa, HP 71
Larry Montgomery, LM 71
Taylor Park, EF 72
Steven Shroyer, WH 74
Chae Cho, HP 74
Steve Laue, WH 71
Van Luu , WH 71
Cory Christianson, EF 73
Jason Miller, BC 72
Mike Grady, MC 75
Andrew Austin, MC 76
Doug Barlow, EF 76
Brett Engstrom, WH 77
Brendan Doheny, WH 75
Al Fleckenstein, EF 77
Shawn Pederson, LM 78
InseonTom Kim, LM 81
Flight 3 (10.0-18.0)
Net scores, Par 72 (6,057 yards)
Chris Bercot, HP 64
Martin Oldfield, LM 64
Richard Haataja, SR 66
Richard Thamsen, WH 66
Matthew Dunbar, SV 67
Lance Gatter, BC 67
Ronel Aquino, MC 67
Alex Mattson, WH 67
Matt Harper, PGD 68
Ken Edwards, EGCC 69
Greg Guest, WH 70
Nawoo Choi, LM 70
James McGuire, WH 71
Glenn Piontek, PGD 72
Kyung Wook Oh, Jor 73
Stephen Reed, Jor 73
Brent Potter, Ken 75
David Betz, SR 76
Darrell Stubblefield, Sno 77
Bill Miller, Ced 79
Joshua Nelson, EGCC 80
Greg Quinn, Lynn 82
KEY: BC—Battle Creek; Ced—Cedarcrest; EF—Echo Falls; EGCC—Everett Golf and Country Club; Glen—Gleneagle; HP—Harbour Pointe; Jor—Jorgensen’s; Ken—Kenwanda; LM—Legion Memorial; Lynn—Lynnwood; MC—Mill Creek Country Club; PGD—Pro Golf Discount; Sno—Snohomish; SR—Super Range; SV—Snohomish Valley; WH—Walter Hall.
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