SNOHOMISH — Ideal course conditions and familiarity with the Snohomish Golf Course will send South Whidbey golfer Jenna Kaik to the state 2A girls golf tournament.

Kaik, a junior, had played a round there one week earlier and the day before during the first round of the District 1 girls golf tournament. Those rounds, though both season-best scores, were short of her expectations.

“The other two days I did horrible on the back nine,” Kaik said.

Those problems were in the past on Tuesday, when Kaik tallied her best score of 89 strokes. She finished in seventh place overall and was the top golfer from the Cascade Conference. In one year, Kaik reduced her district tournament total by 28 strokes.

“I was using my irons really well, so that was a plus,” she said.

Knowing the fairways and greens helped Kaik. During the first round on the ninth hole, Kaik drove into a creek off the tee. On day two, she hit in the same area, but stayed on playable turf, even if her shoes got a little wet because she had to stand in the shallow water hazard. Aquatic aversions were a theme for the second round, as Kaik also changed her club on the 17th hole after driving into a pond in the first round.

“She was just crushing the ball, getting a lot of roll,” said Falcon head coach Tom Sage. “She knew the course better.”

Kaik will be the lone Falcon girls team representative at the Lake Spanaway Public Golf Course. Chelsey Schultz, South Whidbey’s other golfer to make it to the second round shot her career-best scores of 103 and 97, but the two-day cut at 191 was lower than it has been in Sage’s 11-year career as the girls golf coach. Most years, the qualifying count is 200.

“Here’s her coach telling her all year she has to shoot 200 or better and she’d get in to state,” Sage said. “I kind of felt like the new coach on the block.

“I’ve never seen it that low.”

Contact South Whidbey Record Sports, South Whidbey School District, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Ben Watanabe at bwatanabe@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-221-5300.

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