BOY'S GOLF NOTES - MARCH 25, 2011

For the last decade, the Hanford High School golf team has routinely pumped out state-quality golfers.

The reasons for why the Falcons have been so successful throughout the aughts is up for debate.

Some in the program chalk it up to the hard work of the kids, others to a run of good athletes and others to the year-round nature the Hanford athletes put into the sport.

Most likely it is a mix of all of those reasons and a few more.

"It started about seven years ago with Alex Moore," Hanford boys coach Chuck Wagner said. "Scott Johnson helped him get started and he was a hard worker; out at the course so much. The other guys see him and picked up on his work ethic.

"It has continued, and it is continuing now. These boys are putting in four or five hours a day, six or seven days a week, all year round."

In the last 10 years, Hanford's boys have qualified 15 golfers to state, winning medalist titles in 2010 (Scott Kim) and 2007 (Alex Moore) and placing six in the top 10. The Falcons also won the team title in 2007.

On the girls side, the Falcons have qualified 14 golfers to state with one top-10 finish (Molly Jensen, ninth, 2004).

"When you compete with good golfers, it makes you better," said Hanford girls coach Mike Neidhold about his players playing in junior golf tournaments year-round. "We've had our runs, though we've had a bit of a dry spell of late. We are back in the thick of things."

For the Hanford boys, team it paid off last year as Kim won the state title as a junior. Then-freshman Tanner Martin took fourth place. Both are back this season.

"Scott Johnson would get onto us, even when I was 11 years old," Kim said. "At the time, I didn't realize how good he was, but he made us just want to work hard."

Moore won a state title in 2007, and Kim credited the Oregon State junior and former Hanford teammate Josh Harvey as being the ones to help teach him how to work on the course.

"I don't think I have that much talent," Kim said. "I'm at the course a lot, and I work at my game a lot. In the summer, I'm usually at the course from when I wake up until dark. During the school year, I come out after school and play until it's dark.

"However many hours of sunlight is how many I play."

While Kim is deferential for a defending state champion, the competition between the teammates helps drive the success of the team.

"It makes me want to follow in their footsteps," Martin said, "and do the same thing as them, or even better. I want to be a state champ by the end of my senior season."

While the girls haven't enjoyed the state titles the boys have, the Hanford girls team is no pushover.

The Falcons feature three returning state qualifiers and are expected to be at the top of CBBN 3A.

"We have a really good team connection," Hanford sophomore Taylor Kain-Godoy said. "I think we help push ourselves with

BOY'S GOLF NOTES - NOVEMBER 18, 2010

State champion golfer Scott Kim of Hanford signed with Oregon State.

Kim won the 3A state title in May after finishing 11th in the meet as a freshman and third as a sophomore.

He was named the 2010 Tri-City Herald All-Area Boys Golfer of the Year.

BOY'S GOLF NOTES - MAY 27, 2010

Hanford's Scott Kim claimed the 3A boys state golf championship Wednesday at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland, shooting an even-par 72 in the second round to edge out Enumclaw's Tyler Salsbury by two strokes.

Kim finished at 2-under 142, keeping Salsbury at bay as the two each shot 72s in the final round to give the Hanford junior his first state title.

Kim finished tied for third place a year ago and was determined to take the top spot this time around.

"I wasn't all that mad about last year because I played so bad on the first day," he said. "To come out and shoot 69 at Meadow (in round two last year) was pretty big. But I wasn't exactly happy because I still lost by four. This is definitely a much better feeling."

The Falcons also shared the team title with Mount Vernon, thanks to freshman Tanner Martin finishing in a tie for fourth at 2-over 146.

"It's pretty amazing," Martin said. "I've always wanted to win a state championship and me being a part of that will make me go to bed at night happy."

History was made at Columbia Point Golf Course as Chelan senior Kelli Bowers became only the second girl ever to win four state championships, rallying from a four-shot deficit to edge Freeman's Alyssa Maine by one stroke for the 1A title.

Also repeating as a state champion was Lewis & Clark's Chessey Thomas, who won the 4A girls at Sun Willows by two shots over Kentwood's Rui Li.

Richland, which qualified four golfers to today's final round, struggled as a team and finished seventh, with sophomore Kristin Strankman tying for 16th place.

3A boys

Kim got off to a hot start with birdies on the second and fourth holes, but three consecutive three-putts stalled his momentum.

"It was tough," Kim said. "I didn't hit that well on the back (nine). I three-putted three times in a row and that got me riled up."

Kim settled down to birdie the 11th hole and extend his lead. He didn't know it, though, as Salsbury played in the trio ahead of Kim's.

"There were a lot of kids who were at 72 or 73 (after the first round) that if they shot 68 they could come back easy," Kim said. "So I just played my game."

Martin shot a second consecutive 73 and said his putting "really saved me today. I was in some bad positions, and my putter came around and saved me some pars and birdies."

The freshman called it "an honor" to finish in the top 10 at the end of his initial season, but Kim said this performance is just the beginning for Martin.

"Tanner could win it the next three years, easy," Kim said.

BOY'S GOLF NOTES - MAY 10, 2010

Walla Walla senior Drew Reinland won MVP honors for the CBBN boys after running away with the regular-season points title, while Richland won the team title.

Reinland won three of the five pod matches and amassed 354 points, easily beating out second-place finisher Eric Gravbrot of West Valley.

Richland's Cole Lorenzo, Wa-Hi's Jake Hanson, Kamiakin's Riley Hayfield, Southridge's Nick Mandell and Kennewick's Sean Prue also made the All-CBBN first team. Prue edged out Eastmont's Spencer Ellis by 1.1 points for the final spot.

Mid-Columbians on the second team include Hanford's Scott Kim and Tanner Martin, Richland's Matt Rezendes, Southridge's Austin Westphal and Kamiakin's Jack Tumlinson.

BOY'S GOLF NOTES - MARCH 25, 2010

Here is a look at the CBBN 4A/3A leagues for boys and girls golf:

Defending 4A district champions: Boys, Walla Walla; Girls, Richland.

Returning state qualifiers: 4A boys: Drew Reinland, sr., Walla Walla; Riley Hayfield, jr., Kamiakin; Samson Martinez, soph., Pasco; Saul Martinez, sr., Pasco. 4A girls: Mary McDonald, jr., Richland; Kristin Strankman, soph., Richland; Madison Hamm, sr., Richland; Hope Neidhold, soph., Richland.

3A boys: Scott Kim, jr., Hanford; Cole Snider, jr., Hanford. 3A girls: Bri Hadler, soph., Hanford; Renae Visser, jr., Sunnyside.

Boys: Wa-Hi returns Reinland, who won the district title and finished eighth at state before tying for second at the Washington State Amateur, but graduated a pair of state qualifiers from its district titlists.

Last week's season-opening Pasco Invite (won by Reinland in a playoff) showed how wide-open the league should be this season. Southridge -- led by newcomer Nick Mandell and holdover Austin Westphal -- won the team title by one shot over Kamiakin, with Hanford and Richland also in contention.

Pasco won't have the depth of years past because of the Chiawana split, but the Martinez brothers should be among the league leaders. The Riverhawks have junior Brad Barber, who was Pasco's No. 3 a year ago and finished tied for fifth at the Invite.

Girls: No surprises here. Richland dominated the league a year ago and should do so again, returning four state qualifiers -- including McDonald, the All-Area player of the year.

Strankman and Neidhold were named as alternates for the 24th annual North Pacific Junior Ladies Team Golf Matches in late May in British Columbia.

Hanford brings back Hadler and added Taylor Kain-Godoy and Kelsey Aiello, who each have posted top-15 finishes in their first two tournaments. Kamiakin doesn't have one standout but balanced scoring led by second-team all-league senior Amy Verderber. Ditto for Southridge, led by Lauren Goetz.

BOY'S GOLF NOTES - MARCH 17, 2010

Scott Kim saw last summer as his opportunity to make his mark in the junior golf world.

Instead, it turned into a season of missed opportunities for the Hanford junior.

He finished second in U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying -- only the winner advanced.

He opened the Washington State Amateur with a 2-under 70 at Palouse Ridge to sit two shots off the lead -- then shot three rounds in the 80s to finish in a tie for 57th.

He was in good position after the first round of the Washington Junior Golf Association state tournament -- then shot a 77 to fall out of contention, eventually finishing tied for eighth.

He just missed making the Washington teams for the Hogan Cup and Junior Americas Cup.

"I think I burned myself out last year playing in too many tournaments," said Kim, the All-Area golfer of the year after finishing third at the 3A state tournament.

"I just couldn't put a good tournament together. I had a good putting year, but I was real inconsistent hitting the ball, and that used to be my strong point."

To remedy that flaw in his game, Kim bought himself a pass to the Golf Universe driving range this winter and changed to an 8.5-degree driver.

Every day, he pounded balls, looking to improve upon both his distance (about 10-20 added yards off the tee) and accuracy.

Falcons coach Chuck Wagner definitely sees a difference in Kim's attitude this spring.

"He's pretty positive and definitely has confidence in what he's doing," Wagner said. "Last year, he would have streaks of playing really good golf, but he would get nervous and have that little bit of a lack of confidence. I haven't seen that at all so far."

Kim picked up the game at age 8 but didn't begin to get serious until two years later, when his parents made him choose between golf and swimming.

"I liked golf better," said Kim, who was a member of the Tri-City Channel Cats at the time. "It was just fun."

He would spend time with his father, Don, at Horn Rapids Golf Club and join future Hanford teammate Alex Moore and then-club pro Scott Johnson for some friendly competition.

"It just stuck with me," Kim said. "I always wanted to be on the course every day."

Wagner saw Kim's potential the very first day he turned out for the Falcons two years ago.

"I saw him out at Horn Rapids all the time with his dad," Wagner said. "He works hard and spends lots of hours out there. You can be a good athlete, but to break 80 in golf, it takes many hours of work."

Kim is more than just breaking 80 now. He sports a 0.1 handicap -- "Sandbagger," Wagner said when he heard that -- and has heard from Oregon State, Gonzaga and Washington about playing for them in two years.

"This high school season, this summer, is the most important for college golf," he said. "So yeah, there's pressure. But that motivates me. I just want to play some good golf, then see what happens."

Wagner sees much more than "good golf" in Kim's future.

"I see him as being the best golfer in the Tri-Cities, maybe even the east side of the state," Wagner said. "With his talent and confidence, there's no course he can't go on and shoot a subpar round.

"He should have a good year. He really should."