Golfers' run ends at State

It was one step forward, a couple of steps backward for BHS golfer Katja Trygg at this week’s 3A Girls Golf Championships. The senior shaved a stroke off last year’s 171, but slipped five positions from her ninth place finish in 2001.

Trygg opened at Yakima’s Apple Tree Golf Club on Monday with an 86, which placed her in a three-way tie for 19th. Her 84 on Tuesday – the day’s ninth-best score – advanced her to 14th.

“The course played extremely hard, especially on Tuesday,” said coach Marnie Snyder. “We had 30 mph winds blowing in every direction. If a gust came on an approach shot to the green, it would blow the ball into a trap, and that happened to Katja twice.” Eastern Washington teams seemed more accustomed to playing in the wind, she noted.

Putting Trygg’s performance in perspective, Snyder noted that “All in all, Katja played well, it’s just that there are more quality golfers. It seems, from my first year to this one, that the girls keep getting stronger and that’s why she came in 14th.

“I also think our fall season hurts us a great deal. Most of these girls put in the past three months playing daily and participating in matches. I couldn’t even play with them till April 28, only three weeks prior to state.”

The seasonal difference also likely affected James Toepel, who shot an 88 on Monday in the concurrent boys tournament on the same course and didn’t make the cut.

Cook felt that the long hiatus following the district tournament in late October – when Toepel shot a 73 – was a disadvantage.

“The difference in his ability to score well was dramatic,” Cook said. “He’d broken his wrist and grown three inches, which threw his swing off.”

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