Whittle's 73 helps Moses Lake golf team soar

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chiefs wound down boys golf action on Monday, finishing third in the seven-squad league event at Moses Lake Golf Club.

The Chiefs got a 2-over-par, 73-stroke effort from senior Cameron Whittle, who finished third overall among individuals. Eisenhower's Patrick Boag was first (71) and Walla Walla's Jeff Neher was second (72). Whittle's performance moved him up two spots to fourth in the overall league points standings, Chiefs coach JR Cox said.

As a team, the Chiefs also finished up one of their best seasons in recent memory. Mike Holmes finished 10th overal, shooting a 76. Zac McDougall shot a 77, helping him finish seventh in the overall league point standings.

Rick Gleed (79), Billy Brice (82) and Justin Walker (86) rounded out the varsity scores. Moses Lake shot 305 as a team, third overall behind Walla Walla (296) and Pasco (300). That was good enough to move the Chiefs into third in the overall league standings.

"Walla Walla played phenomenal today as did Pasco, but our six guys just gutted it out to finish third ahead of a couple of schools that really wanted to beat us today," Cox said. "A couple players had struggles but kept grinding, knowing it was going to play close today."

The Chiefs move into district play next Tuesday, May 15, at Yakima. They'll play a morning round at Yakima Elks and an afternoon round at Apple Tree Golf Course.

The top eight golfers at districts qualify for state play, May 22-23 at Shuksan Golf Club in Bellingham. Cox said he thinks the team has a good shot of advancing a few guys to state.

"We had a great year and kept making strides every day, and we also played very well our last two matches of the year to finish third overall," Cox said.