Rain can’t dampen 1A golfers’ play during district tourney

Lynden Christian’s Erik Vander Veldon and Meridian’s Jake McKinnon tied for second place with a round of 79 during the Class 1A District Tournament on Thursday at North Bellingham Golf Course. The two were just one stroke shy of tournament champion Grayson Giboney of King’s.

Rain was a factor for the first couple of hours of the day, which meant conditions were tough. Despite this, Meridian’s boys’ golf team had “probably its best outing of the year,” according to coach Bryant D’Hondt.

“I’m proud of my guys because we shot five strokes better than we did on Tuesday, and that was with much better conditions,” D’Hondt said. ‘We’re just looking to peak at the right time.”

The Trojans led the Whatcom County boys’ teams with a score of 444, and Lynden Christian scored 435.

Meridian’s bi-district qualifiers include Ryan Holz (81), Jordan Naidu (91), Pavel Lintz (96) and Bailey Gilmour (100). Lynden Christian advances Jake De Young (82), Kaden Stark (89), Nick Den Adel (91) and John Den Hartog (94).

AJ Howley (86) and Austin Multop (96) of Mount Baker both qualified for bi-districts. Zack Daniels (102) of Nooksack Valley claimed the final spot.

On the girls’ side, Ciara Bergman of Mount Baker took second place with a score of 88. Bergman was five strokes behind first place finisher Kolby Heggens of South Whidbey.

Mount Baker also qualified Natalie Verry (95), Bria Henthorn (97) and Cassidy Schmidr (106) for next week’s bi-districts.

Meridian’s Sarah Kihm (97) and Chloe Olson (114) each earned spots in bi-districts.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 7:27 AM with the headline "Rain can’t dampen 1A golfers’ play during district tourney."