OSAA Golf: Engle storms through Quail Valley Friday, May 29, 2009

Daniel Engle of Phoenix High School tracks his tee shot on the par-three fourth hole May 19 in the second round of the 4A state championship tournament at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks. The senior cruised to the individual title, scoring 67 (-5) in both rounds to win by 12 strokes. The Pirates team finished fourth.

Last week I shot the second rounds of the 4A and 3A/2A/1A boys golf tournaments at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks, about 20 miles west of Portland. The weather wasn't as nice as it had been for the first round (when I wasn't there), but apart from a brief downpour around 11 a.m., the rain basically held off for the day. But sun and clouds were continuously performing do-si-dos all day, making it a challenge to keep the exposure right.

In the morning (4A) I had three golfers to cover: Ryan Melnychuk and Garrett Shwietert from North Valley, and Daniel Engle of Phoenix. Now I don't golf very often, and if I'm going to shell out dozens of dollars for greens fees and club rentals, I'm darn well going to get as many strokes per dollar as I can. These guys clearly have the opposite philosophy.

Schwietert, a senior, played well, shooting 75-78-153 (+9) in the two-day affair to finish tied for ninth. Melnychuk tied for third with a score of 76-72-148 (+4), particularly impressive for a freshman.

Daniel Engle drives from the third tee May 19 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks, Ore.

But Engle blew the field away. The senior shot 67 in round one to take a three stroke lead into day two. The next day—under tougher conditions—he shot 67 again to set a new tournament record (-10) and win by 12 strokes. He played like a machine. And to top it off, he finished disappointed with a bogey on the 18th hole. As he told the Medford Mail Tribune, "The first five minutes after that I was kinda bummed," added Engle, "but then I realized I'd won by 12 strokes so it was OK."


[right] North Valley freshman Ryan Melnychuk was impressive, scoring 76-72-148 (+4) in the two-day event to finish tied for third place. His even round on day two was the second-best score of the day.











[far left] Garrett Schwietert putts on the ninth green. Schwietert scored 153 (+9) in the two-day tournament to finish tied for ninth. [left] Myron Clements of Henley High School ran into trouble on the 9th hole as his drive embedded itself two inches into the boundary line on the water hazard. The senior held on for a bogey on the hole, and finished tied for ninth overall with a two-day score of 76-77-153 (+9).

OSAA 5A State Golf Tournament—Day 2 Monday, May 19, 2008

Sloan Tennant of Pendleton High School puts his ball up on the second green May 13 at the 5A state golf tournament in Corvallis. The sophomore had a combined score of 163 to finish tied for 35th.

Things are getting a bit out of order here, so if you're trying to get the chronology straight, I was in Ohio first, then immediately turned around and went to Corvallis, Ore., for the golf tournament. I blogged about Day 1 of the golf a few days ago.

The weather wasn't as nice on Day 2, but at least it didn't rain. Here are some of my favorite images from that day.

[below, left] Pendleton junior Kordd Thornton follows his approach shot on the ninth hole. [below, right] Bend's Andrew Vijarro pumps his fist after birdying the ninth hole at Trysting Tree. Vijarro and Nick Sherwood of West Albany tied for first with two-day scores of 143. A strong second day by West Albany put them first as a team. The Lava Bears were fourth.

You don't see a lot of photos of fairway shots, partly because you don't know exactly where the players will be. As I found out, it's also a bit more dangerous.

On this hole (left) the drives usually land near the top of a little hill right beside a huge tree, so I parked myself there. For the first group I photographed going through that hole, one of the guys I wasn't shooting ended up a bit short—on the right side of the fairway, but at the bottom of the swale, about 30 yards from me. Since the hole heads a little left from there, I figured I was pretty safe standing right up against the tree. I watched as he played his wood, and saw the ball coming straight at me. Yikes! I ducked as it whistled through the branches about 10 or 15 feet from where I had been.

The kid was cool, though, and apologized for sending the ball at me. I told him not to sweat it, it was my fault for standing there.

[left] Sloan Tennant of Pendleton High School winces as his chip shot narrowly missed the cup on the ninth green. (The Pendleton team started on the 10th hole on day 2 of the tournament, so this was his last hole.) [right] Bend's Andrew Vijarro reacts after narrowly missing his par putt on the 18. I don't think he knew it at the time, but he would have won the tournament if he'd made that putt.

OSAA State Golf Tournament Monday, May 12, 2008

The best high school golfers in Oregon took to the links today in pursuit of individual and team state titles. At the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Wilsonville leads by three strokes over Bend after the first day of the two-day, class 5A tournament. Bend's Andrew Vijarro had the best individual round with 70 (-2).

Full results from the tournaments are available here.

[left] Crescent Valley's Tyler DeSpain winces as his chip shot just misses the cup on the ninth hole. DeSpain shot a 79 on Monday. [below] Jesse Salzwadel of Wilsonville shoots his approach from under a tree on eight.

I intended to post some photos from my trip to Ohio today, but I left them at home in the brief visit I paid there last night, so they'll have to wait for another day. Needless to say, it was a bit of an adventure. I'm here in Corvallis tonight (it was cheaper and quicker to get a hotel here than drive home tonight and back again tomorrow). One more day of golf tomorrow, then it's home for 48+ hours!

Corporate golf tournament Thursday, August 23, 2007

A golfer tees off Aug. 21 on the 18th hole at the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club's South course in Aloha, Ore.

I spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday this week shooting this corporate event and the next evening's charity auction.

It was fun, but a bit trickier than I expected. What the company is looking for is shots of players interacting, laughing with each other, etc. And that does happen, but it's very unpredictable.

The only time you know exactly where the players will be is the tee. And this (see first picture) is where my contact suggested I start shooting. She was right that the view down the 18th fairway to the clubhouse is a fantastic backdrop, and the light was pointing in the right direction. However, the action is all facing away from you. So after taking a few shots there, I thought I'd try to find a tee that had a similar view but with the golfers headed away from the clubhouse.

At the Reserve, that view is probably there from the 10th tee. However, by the time I got there, the last of the golfers I needed to shoot had just left.

So I went to the 18th green. On the green, of course, you can get a lot closer to the golfers, but they could be coming at the hole from any direction. Usually, it seems, a foursome will be spread out around the four points of the compass. And as they get ready for their shot, they'll joke and laugh with each other—from where their ball lies. Tough to make the kind of picture I was looking for.

And fairway shots... the golfers are even farther apart. So I made some big, wide-angle shots on the green, and a few fairway shots when the golfers were in range. But mostly I concentrated on tight shots on the green, like I might for a normal golf tournament, waiting for the reaction of the golfer when they make (or don't make) the shot. And once in a while you get lucky, when two golfers put their balls close together on the green, and joke with each other while the others make their shots.

Katie (or perhaps Katy) was selling mulligans around the course on behalf of the company organizing the event. She was kind/unfortunate enough to be on hand for an exposure check.

Sports Shooter update Thursday, May 17, 2007

Max Gorman of Hood River Valley puts some body English on his putt on the 13th hole Tuesday.

I don't have much to say today. But I did update my Sports Shooter page this morning with some images from the golf tournament I shot on Tuesday. You can check it out at www.SportsShooter.com/matthewginn/.

As a special bonus, here are a couple that I didn't put on that page.

It was fun watching these kids play. They are a lot more emotive than the pro golfers I usually avoid watching on TV. I wish I could have followed Max Gorman (right) around all day. Every time I saw him, he was bending and twisting and verbally coaxing the ball to go where he wanted. You don't get a whole lot of jubilation out of them—I saw one fist pump all day, and barely a smile on the winner's face after he finished—but you do see frustration on a regular basis. And these kids can play: all of them can hit below their weight (which is more than I can do), and the best shoot rounds close to par on a regular basis. Two hit holes-in-one on the first day of the tournament, and there were six rounds below par, including Philip Bagdade's superb 66 on day 2.

A course official explains the rules about broken clubs to Will Guitteau Tuesday after he played two strokes with a putter he had broken in frustration on the previous hole. The freshman from Grant High School was disqualified because of the infraction.

OSAA 6A Golf Championships Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Sand flies as Todd Vrooman of Tualatin hits out of a bunker Tuesday on the fourth hole at the OGA course in Woodburn. Vrooman finished tied for fifth with a two-day score of 145 (+1).

Yesterday I covered the final day of the 6A boys golf championships in at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn (just south of Portland). The results are posted here.

High school golf is played both as a team sport and an individual contest. The individual winners are calculated much the same way as at a PGA event. Team scores are calculated by totaling the scores of five players from the same school.

For the golf championships, the top two teams from each district qualify for the meet, as do the three highest individuals not on one of those teams. In class 6A, 91 golfers from across the state qualified for the tournament.

(right) Philip Bagdade puts his 66th shot of the day into the 18th hole Tuesday afternoon at the 6A boys golf championships in Woodburn. Though he started the day tied for 11th, five shots off the pace, the Sheldon junior blew past the competition with a solid second round, winning the individual title by two strokes.

(left) After playing the 18th hole, Grant's Will Guitteau looks a club he broke in frustration on the previous hole. Course officials ruled that the club was "modified other than in the normal course of play," and he was disqualified for using it.

Philip Bagdade (table, at right) cringes as he awaits the team results. Sheldon came up two strokes behind Jesuit for the team title.

Sunny days Saturday, March 31, 2007

Keith Stockbauer of Gresham (right), and Alex Martinez of Troutdale work on their putting Thursday afternoon on the practice green at the Gresham Golf Club.

Thursday was sunny and warm in Gresham (69F, 21C), and people flocked to the parks and golf courses to enjoy it. Read more about it in the Outlook.