The Jeff Hudson Invitational High School Golf Tournament will be missing something pretty significant this year.
Jeff Hudson.
The former Mountain View golf coach, who founded this annual prep golf showcase as the Thunder Invitational, died last May after a long battle with prostate cancer.
“This year’s tournament will be somewhat melancholy with the passing of founder Jeff Hudson this past spring,” John McCausland, current Mountain View co-coach said. “However, his vision to showcase the quality of high school golf in Southwest Washington should not disappoint.”
To honor Hudson, the Thunder Invitational became the Jeff Hudson Invitational a couple of years ago. But it started as a simple idea back in 1998.
“We started it off just as a little tournament, trying to get as many local kids going head to head,” Hudson told The Columbian in 2005.
Now the event is a showcase of some of the top golfers in the state.
This year’s field includes a couple of state champions. Camas’ Brian Humphreys won the 4A title in 2013, and Fort Vancouver’s Spencer Tibbits is the reigning 3A state champion.
Plus there is Hockinson’s Diego De La Torre, Columbia River’s Spencer Long and Union’s Eddie Abellar — all of whom have top-10 finishes at state to their name.
The 17-team tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Tri-Mountain Golf Course.
Other highlights
• The volleyball schedule gets kicked off Monday with a few matches, including Union at Prairie.
• On Thursday, former league rivals Columbia River and Camas meet in a non-league girls soccer match at Doc Harris Stadium.
• Area girls swimmers will get their season going at the Mark Morris Jamboree on Thursday.
• The traditional start to the cross country season is the Hudson’s Bay Run-A-Ree, which will feature 11 Clark County squads on Friday afternoon.
• Week 2 of the high school football season features some good games Friday like Woodinville vs. Skyview at Kiggins Bowl, Woodland at La Center, and Federal Way at Camas.
