Huskies, Chiefs get on course at Pasco Invite

PASCO — The earlier than normal start for boys golfers from Moses Lake and Othello High Schools brought about completely opposite results for both teams as they took part in the 2010 Pasco Invitational at Sun Willows Golf Course on Monday.

The young, raw Chiefs squad had some bumpy moments at the Par 72 course, finishing with a team score of 351.

On the flip side, Othello, led by three returning state participants, chipped away to a solid tied-for-fifth place finish in the 18 team field, scoring a 324.

Jared Kummer (77), Sam Tara (80), Dylan Johns (80), and Brian Elgin (87) recorded the top four scores while Michael Arttray (96) rounded out the team’s day.

“I was actually pretty excited because Tara, Johns, Kummer are our returning state vets and knew they should shoot low so I was wondering how our 4th and 5th golfers would do,” Othello coach Sammy Rocha said. “When Brian got his 87, I was on high nine because I thought he might be in the mid 90s and he ended up in the mid 80s.”

Kummer led the way despite entering play with some issues with his driver.

“Jared did that without a driver since he’s been struggling with it,” Rocha said. “He was driving with a three wood off the tee. He’s got ice going through his veins and lets nothing get in his way.”

Moses Lake ended up in 11th place, led by the play of Gabe Porter (80) and Randy McNair (88).

Austin Rogers (90), Austin Sandman (91), and Jonathan Hill (94) made their first ever appearances for the Chiefs varsity on Monday.

“This shows we have some work to do,” Moses Lake coach J.R. Cox said. “We don’t have any seniors this year so we’re trying to get the younger guys some experience. For those three guys’ first varsity match ever they did well under the circumstances with only five practices.”

Cox said that with his team not playing again until March 19 at the Kennewick Invitational he can work on fine tuning his squad’s short game.

“There were some situational things that I saw where we didn’t execute real well,” Cox said. “Once we get them to focus a little better it will help us tremendously. This tournament just gave me some things to be able to work on so it’s good.”

Southridge won the invitational with a 312.