Despite poor weather conditions Tuesday, Tumwater’s Seth Nickerson is two shots off the lead going into today’s final round of the 2A state golf tournament at The Classic Golf Club in Spanaway.
“I played all right,” said Nickerson, who shot a 5-over-par 77. “I just made one bad swing. Other than that, I played pretty well. I didn’t putt great at all, so I left a lot of shots out there on the greens. But, overall, I hit it pretty well.
“I haven’t been able to practice that much,” he added. “I’ve been working quite a bit trying to save up for college next year and my knee is not feeling the greatest. So all things considered, it wasn’t too bad.”
Even with the defending 2A champ Ryan Wallen of Blaine and reigning Washington State Golf Association junior boys player of the year Andrew Whalen of Ephrata in the field, it was Port Angeles’ Joe Barnes atop the leaderboard with a 3 over 75.
Wallen is tied with Nickerson at 77, and Whalen is one shot behind at 78.
Nickerson said having Whalen and others in the tournament makes it a tough field.
“He (Whalen) actually played better than I did today,” the future Pacific Lutheran golfer said. “Unfortunately, he had a two-stroke penalty, but this is a competitive division and if you can be anywhere near the top with all these kids, I mean, there is just so many good players. It feels good to look up at the leaderboard and to see you’re in contention.”
Whalen received a two-stroke penalty, and he said the wet weather was the reason.
“I got penalized for moving water off of the green,” said the Northwestern University-bound Whalen. “Things happen.”
With a mixture of heavy rain and drizzle throughout the day, the course conditions weren’t the best.
“It was pretty tough,” Whalen said. “The greens aren’t that nice right now with all the water. It was hard to make putts.”
“It was really tough today,” Nickerson added. “It didn’t stop raining and it was completely soaked. The greens started to get a lot of water on them. Everything was against us today, that’s for sure.”
For others, the rain helped the course a little.
“It played easier than last year,” said South Whidbey’s Harrison Price, who shot a 78. “The rain softened it up a little. It was still tough. If you don’t hit the ball straight, you’re going to get stuck in the trees. It’s just tough to get out from there.”
