A few bad shots and an excess of emotion impacted the performances of Port Townsend’s and Chimacum’s golfers at the Olympic 1A Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Championships. 

CHIMACUM

In his first trip to state, which took place May 22-23,  Logan Storm did not play as well as he would have liked, missing the cut to play during the second round.

According to Storm, he was strong in putting and hitting drives, making “quite a few” one-putts and “not many” three-putts, while his practice round and first round of competition saw him hitting the ball “really far” into “many” of the fairways.

“But what killed my round was definitely my second shots,” Storm said. “There were way too many missed second shots that ruined my scorecard, that I just could not hit.”

The lesson Storm has learned for next season is to hit his irons well, “because that kills a scorecard, as well as any chance at playing in the second round.”

At the same time, Storm took pride in his long drives, “that seemed to never come down,” and in bombing his tee shots “way past the kids in my group.”

“My driver and my short game all seemed to be fine, other than one or two bad shots,” he said.

Storm’s coach Kevin Miller reported the pupil shot a 93 on May 22 to miss the cut by just 5 points.

“He was really close, with only a few shots hurting him,” Miller said. “Overall, he played solid, but he just couldn’t seem to piece together a good stretch of holes. It seemed like there was a shot, every other hole, that made it tough for him to score.”

Since Storm is a junior, Miller said he looks forward to seeing him apply the lessons of this experience to his senior year.

“If he puts in the work over the summer, he can do some damage next year,” Miller said. 

PORT TOWNSEND

Although Mackenzie Lake and Jacob Madison seemed to do well early on, both agreed they let their emotions get the better of them as play continued.

“The first day, I did very well,” Lake said. “I ended up with an 81, which put me in seventh place.”

Lake’s second day, however, proved to be an “off-day” for her, as she scored a 99, which dropped her down to 19th place overall.

“My biggest challenge was staying under control,” Lake said. “Sometimes, I would notice that I’d been playing well for a few holes, and I’d get excited, but the next hole, I’d end up with a number I didn’t necessarily like.”

Lake started overthinking on the second day, which distracted her from focusing on her game.

“When I had a bad hole, I wouldn’t be able to get back on track, so I wouldn’t be able to move on,” Lake said.

Nonetheless, Lake believes she benefited from last year’s trip to state, since it gave her an idea of what to expect this time around. 

“My most memorable moment was on the 18th hole on the first day,” Lake said. “I remember my drives going into a bunker. I had a good out. Looking at my parents and my coach smiling at me, I knew how well I was doing, and I was happy with myself.”

Madison admitted he succumbed to the pressure of “competing at a higher level,” since he was up against “some great players, who put up low scores.”

Madison shot an 89 in the practice round, which bolstered his confidence.

“It wasn’t my best score, but it was OK for never having played the course before,” Madison said. “I thought I could put up a better score the next day, but that wasn’t the case.” 

During the first day of the competition, Madison sliced the ball, hitting right.

“This put me in some difficult situations,” Madison said.

Nonetheless, Madison was proud to play alongside Lake at state, and to have his family, as well as PT coach Gabriel Tonan, there to witness and lend their support as he made the cut for the second day.

Madison aims to hone his focus and consistency through the summer, the rest of his high school golf career and beyond.

“Golf is probably the toughest sport mentally,” Madison said. “I’m only 15, and I have to remind myself that it’s been a privilege to compete at state twice. Some athletes never get to experience this.”

Dana Madison, Jacob Madison’s mom, expressed pride of her own in his accomplishments this season.

“We support him no matter the score,” Dana Madison said. “He is always learning and improving in the sport and has great potential to go far, if he so chooses. We also love to play golf as a family and plan to do some tournaments this summer.”