EVERETT — Though this was his first Snohomish County Amateur appearance, Kevin Beavers of Seattle showed all the poise and polish of a tournament veteran during Monday afternoon’s final round.
Beavers, a Boeing engineer who is also an assistant golf coach at Kamiak High School, shrugged off two early bogeys and went on to shoot a 2-under-par 70 at Legion Memorial Golf Course, putting the finishing touches to a three-day tourney total of 5-under 211. It gave him a comfortable six-stroke victory in the 85th annual County Am.
“This is very cool to me,” said the 31-year-old Beavers, the only player to shoot under par all three rounds. “It really is a confidence booster.”
Beavers, who represents Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe Golf Course, qualified for last year’s USGA U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship for players 25 and over. “I’d say this (victory) and that (tournament) are the two greatest accomplishments of my golfing career,” he said.
And although he looked cool under pressure, “it was a battle (with nerves) all day,” he admitted. “Trying to compete against good players and handle your emotions is not easy to do. … I’ve succumbed to (tournament) pressure in the past, and it’s been a long battle to get to this point.”
The win was significant for Beavers for other reasons, too. It was his first career victory in a three-round event, and it was also the first time he had won after taking a lead into the final round.
But more importantly, he wanted the victory to honor the memory of his parents, who both died of cancer in 2012.
“I really tried to play hard for them today,” he said. With a sizeable lead “it was so easy for me to get complacent on those last few holes. I really had to push hard, and that was a really big motivating factor for me to keep me going and to not give up the last few holes.”
His day was not without flaws. A couple of wayward shots on the second and third holes led to bogeys, opening the door for playing partners Joe Fryer and Tyler Hanson, who had both begun the day four shots behind. But Beavers promptly responded with a birdie on No. 4 and another on No. 6 to get his round back to even par, and a third birdie on the 10th hole dropped him under par to stay for the afternoon.
And if anyone thought he might falter down the stretch, Beavers snuffed that notion with another birdie on No. 15.
“Once I steadied myself (with a birdie) on 4, I really got a flow going,” said Beavers, who played collegiately at the University of Portland. “I got a rhythm to the round, which was nice.” And over the final few holes “it was more just about trying to get myself a putt at birdie, but then to secure the par and not make a big mistake.”
Second place went to Rudy Caparas, who closed with a 1-under 71 for a 1-over 217 total. Fryer shot 1-over 73 to place third at 2-over 218.
Alex Stamey, a five-time champion who needs one more title for the all-time lead in tournament victories, shot even-par 72 on Monday to place fourth at 3-over 219. His chance of winning was undone by a 5-over 77 in Sunday’s second round at Harbour Pointe.
“I played good this year,” Stamey said. “I just had one bad putting day (on Sunday), which was unfortunate. I hit the ball tee to green very well, so I’m happy with that. But I needed to make more birdies (to catch) Kevin. He’s very solid and he’s not going to make any mistakes.”
In the second division, for players with handicaps of 5.1 to 9.9, Daniel Kim of Harbour Pointe was the low-net winner with a three-round total of 9-under 207, one stroke better than Chae Cho, also of Harbour Pointe. The third division winner was Kyung wook Oh of Harbour Pointe with a 21-under 195.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
