KENNEWICK — The defending champion did not win Thursday, but he finished like a champion.
Fort Vancouver sophomore Spencer Tibbits, frustrated with his play on the front-nine in the final round of the Class 3A state boys golf championship, fired a 5-under-par 31 on the back-nine to finish in second place.
“I knew I just had to keep plugging away,” said Tibbits, adding it is a “great” feeling to respond so quickly after the round appeared to be getting away from him.
“It seemed like whatever I was doing, whatever I was trying, it was wrong,” Tibbits said of his front-nine 40. “Nothing came out right.”
Then he had three birdies and an eagle coming home, carding his second consecutive 71 for a two-day total of 142.
Sam Warkentin of Bainbridge won the title. He shot a 70 on Thursday after his opening-round 69 for a three-shot victory over Tibbits.
Those two have been friends since Tibbits was 8 years old.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played together,” Warkentin said. “He’s obviously a really impressive player. A lot of fun playing with him. We’re good friends.”
Warkentin was steady, even-par on the front nine, building a six-stroke lead over Tibbits at the turn. Tibbits made a birdie on 17 to get within three, and Warkentin had a tricky par putt ahead of him. Warkentin made it and gave a fist pump.
“I thought it was a big putt,” he said, adding that a three-shot lead with one to play is psychologically a lot bigger than a two-shot lead going to the final hole.
Warkentin then went down the middle of the fairway with his drive on 18, hit the center of the green, and made a two-putt par to claim the title. Warkentin, a junior, did not play in the state tournament last year — when it was held at Tri-Mountain Golf Course in Ridgefield — because of an injury.
Tibbits said he was nervous going into this tournament as the defending champion, but that distinction had some benefits as well.
“It just gave me the extra confidence knowing I’ve done it before,” Tibbits said.
Starting the day two shots off the lead, he knew he hurt his chances with his first nine holes. He was in danger of falling out of the top three, but he kept his head in the round.
“I thought if I could make a few more birdies I could place a little bit higher,” he said.
Tibbits recorded pars on the first three holes of the back-nine. He scolded himself for missing what he called an easy birdie putt on No. 12.
Then he owned the final six holes: birdie, birdie, eagle, par, birdie, par.
He hit the flag stick on his second shot on the par-5 13th hole. His tee shot on the par-3 17th stopped roughly 7 feet from the hole.
While Tibbits did not defend his individual title, he did help the Trappers pick up some hardware. Trent Standard finished in a tie for 27th place. The two Trappers scored 55 points to finish fourth in the team category.
Bainbridge won the team title with 70 points.
Columbia River’s Spencer Long (163) and Nick Ayres (166) finished 41st and 42nd.
