Grace Academy no match for Meeker, but Wolverines fall by two | Golf

Top-flight performances by several Wolverines were not enough to put Friday Harbor in the winner's circle, as Grace Academy prevailed by two strokes, 198-200, to notch the team win, Tuesday, at San Juan Island Golf & Country Club.

Friday Harbor’s Thomas Cole and Peter Strasser bested the breeze, rain and chilly temperatures to notch personal bests, and San Juan Island’s “Lady of the Links,” Kendra Meeker, scored a scintillating 38 over nine holes.

But those top-flight performances were not enough to put Friday Harbor in the winner’s circle, as Grace Academy edged past Wolverines by two strokes, 198-200, to notch the team win, Tuesday, at San Juan Island Golf & Country Club.

Cole and Strasser, both making a debut on the golf team this season, each broke the magic 50 mark, with Cole scoring a 47 and Strasser tallying a 49 over nine holes for the second consecutive match. Although Jordan Davis finished four strokes over 50, he sank a 30-foot putt to notch a “two” on hole No. 8, a par-three, and post the Wolverines first birdie of the 2014 season.

Keegan Herbert finished the match with a 54, his best score of the season, and Jesse Kolowitz posted a 51.

Grace Academy’s Jeremiah Lee shot a 44 to earn low-score honors in the men’s field.

Meeker, a three-time state championship qualifier, posted her lowest score of the season despite being paired with three Grace Academy players who each needed nearly twice as many shots to complete the nine-hole round of competition.

“When you’re as good as she is and you’re paired with other players that can’t get the ball airborne, it takes a lot of patience to hold your concentration and focus,” Coach Jack Rice noted in his recap of the match. “Kendra posted a season low score of 38 on the long and wet San Juan Golf Club. Today she gets an A-plus for mental toughness.”

Friday Harbor, which last week defeated Orcas by nine strokes to bag the team win, 91-100, face Cedar Park Christian and Lopez on the road, April 1 and April 14, respectively, and will be back at San Juan Golf & Country Club April 17 to host Cedar Park Christian.