Clark County high school golf fans once again had a lot to be proud of as the state championships concluded Friday.
• Fort Vancouver’s Spencer Tibbits rallied on the back nine of the 3A state tournament in Kennewick to place second a year after winning the state title.
• Woodland’s Faith Udy shot a 75 on Thursday to place third in the 2A girls tournament in Spokane.
• The Hockinson girls golf team placed second at the 2A tournament.
• Clayton Rajewich of King’s Way Christian placed fifth in the 1A boys tournament in Pasco.
• Diego De La Torre of Hockinson placed third in the 2A boys tournament in Spokane.
But the proudest moment among local golfers may have occurred by what one golfer did to lose.
I had the pleasure of covering Camas’ Brian Humphreys when he was a freshman and won the 4A state title at Camas Meadows. And I covered him again last year when he rebounded from a bumpy first round to place second at state, again at Camas Meadows.
This year, Humphreys was in the hunt for another state title when he teed off Thursday at The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane.
On the second hole, Humphreys was addressing the ball for a putt.
“When I set my putter down on No. 2, I nudged the ball forward a little bit and then just tapped it in,” Humphreys said. “Since I accidentally hit it and didn’t replace it, it was a two-shot penalty.”
Humphreys called the penalty on himself, even though he may have been the only one to see it.
“I guess it didn’t move enough for the people in the gallery to see, but I know it moved forward,” Humphreys said.
Camas coach Ed Givens said no one, not even Humphreys’ playing partners, saw the ball move.
“The kids were talking after that hole,” Givens said. “And the other kids in his group said ‘We didn’t see the ball move. Are you sure you want to give yourself a penalty?’ And Brian said, ‘I saw it move.’
“There was a head rules official standing right next to me and she said she didn’t see the ball move.”
Humphreys would go onto shoot a 71 on Thursday — an almost identical score to his first-round 69 on Wednesday, if you don’t count that two-shot penalty.
It gave him a 36-hole total of 140, one shot behind a three-way tie for first place between Ethan Castro of Snohomish, Chris Mogg of Skyline and Zack Overstreet of Issaquah.
Overstreet captured the state title in a playoff. But if not for that nudge on No. 2, Humphreys could have been celebrating his second state title in three years.
“It’s such a man-up situation there,” Givens said. “The kids goes and makes six birdies after that penalty. … Other people wanted to feel sorry for him, and he says ‘Coach, I missed a couple of four-foot putts. That’s why I lost. You can’t miss four-foot putts.
“It’s such a proud moment as a coach, to have a kid who acts so mature, so professional.”
I often say that you don’t see the true character of an athlete after a victory, but instead how they carry themselves when things aren’t going so well.
Brian Humphreys’ character revealed itself Thursday on the No. 2 green on The Creek at Qualchan in Spokane.
And that’s something we can all be proud of.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian. Follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
