It’s hard to imagine a two-time state champion golfer lacking in confidence.
But struggling through a difficult round Tuesday at the Class 3A state tournament, that’s what Spencer Tibbits was feeling.
But the senior for Fort Vancouver golf team regrouped to birdie the final three holes of the first round at Columbia Point Golf Course in Richland to stay within in contention.
Back in a similar spot under much more challenging conditions Wednesday, Tibbits let his experience take over.
“I just told myself there were birdies holes left in front of me,” Tibbits.
Tibbits finished his second round with three consecutive birdies and pulled away for a four-shot victory. It was the third 3A state championship of his four-year prep career.
“While I would have wanted to win all four years, winning three out of four is something that probably hasn’t been done in a while,” said Tibbits, who was a state runner-up his sophomore year. “It’s definitely something I’m proud of.”
While almost all golfers who shot 75 or better on Tuesday posted higher scores in much windier conditions Wednesday, Tibbits went lower. He bettered his first-round 69 with a round of 68 on Wednesday, giving him a 137 for 36 holes.
“I knew I could play in tough conditions,” Tibbits said. “I’ve played in tough conditions before and played well, whether it’s rain or wind or whatever. I knew with how windy it was that if I could put up a score close to what I had on Tuesday, that would be hard to beat.”
And it was as Matt Uhrich of Lake Washington was second at 141. Prairie’s Jacob Abrahamson finished 29th with a 155.
In the 4A girls tournament at MeadowWood Golf Course in Liberty Lake, Emma Cox of Camas cut two shots off her first-round score to shoot 148 and place third overall. With Hailey Oster’s ninth-place finish (154), Camas placed second in the team standings behind Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma.
Julieta Rendon of Union placed 34th (166) and Ellie Johnson of Skyview finished 36th (167).
The Columbia River boys golf team also placed second overall at the 2A tournament at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane. Kyle Gomez set the pace with a fifth-place finish (153). Jacob Larson (157) was 13th and Jacob Beuselinck (159) was 16th. Hockinson’s Logan Hardy was 26th (163) and Ridgefield’s Kellen Bringhurst was 35th (167).
Seton Catholic’s Nate Kutch fell two shots short of the 1A boys state title, placing fourth at 144. Sean Ball was 12th (153) to help Seton place fourth as a team. King’s Way Christian’s Karter Graves was 30th (169) and Cole Sherertz was 37th (175) at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
In the 4A boys tournament at Liberty Lake Golf Course, Union’s Ben Gruher and Hayden Meeker tied for 26th (152) and Reece Boyce and Keith Lobis tied for 36th (155).
Washougal’s Kallie Sakamoto was the runner-up in the 2A girls tournament with a 155, nine shots behind state champion Kendedee Peters of Ephrata. Columbia River’s Lindsay MacNeil was 31st (188) at Indian Canyon Golf Course in Spokane.
La Center’s Taylor Entenman was sixth (171) at the 1A girls tournament at Horn Rapids Golf Course in Richland.
In the 3A girls tournament at Canyon Lakes Golf Course in Kennewick, Delainey Patterson of Prairie was 14th (172), Kiana Coburn of Fort Vancouver was 18th (175), Audrey Chang of Mountain View as 37th (192) and Madie Schmidt of Prairie was 38th (193).
