Gazette-Times Reporter

Crescent Valley took advantage of a rare calm day at Trysting Tree Golf Course to get off to strong start in the opening round of the Mid-Willamette Conference district golf tournament on Monday.

CV shot a 297 and is five strokes ahead of West Albany (302) after the first 18 holes. Corvallis was in fourth place with 340, behind South Albany’s 336.

“Today was definitely weird day,” CV senior Willie Mathews said. “Out on the driving range, people were like, ‘It’s so nice’ and I was like, ‘Oh gosh, knock on wood,’ because I didn’t want it to get windy like it usually does.

“In the afternoon, it usually gets going at 15-to-20 miles per hour.”

But the hardest the wind blew was about five MPH, and that wasn’t an issue for the Raiders.

Senior Mike Ulstad shot a personal best 2-under-par to finish with a 70; Mathews was second at 71. Ulstad overcame a rough start on No. 16, which he said was the turning point.

“I hit a pretty bad drive,” Ulstad said. “Then I hit it onto the green to about 80 feet away, a long ways away. Then I drained the putt.

“At that point, I thought I might be able to do something good. I finished with two pars, so that was a big momentum builder.”

Ulstad and Mathews’ scores, combined with solid performances from teammates Scott Reinke (87), Tyler DeSpain (76) and Sam Pape were more than enough to hold off West Albany, which entered with a conference-leading 39 points, three more than CV.

The Bulldogs were led by juniors Hans Reimers (72) and Nick Sherwood (74). And while CV coach Jason Laughery was ecstatic about his team’s performance, he said West Albany is still dangerous.

We can’t get caught up in (Monday),” Laughery said. “(Today) is a new day. I know West Albany is capable of shooting how we did (Monday), so we have to keep our focus.”

The top two teams advance to next week’s state tournament at Trysting Tree.

Corvallis entered Monday’s match knowing it was a longshot to make it to state because it had 29 points. It is a young team of four sophomores and a freshman, most of whom made their first district appearances.

“We were having a little trouble because we knew we weren’t going to make it as a team really because the other teams were really in front of us,” sophomore Roan Dickey said.

“So I think we were trying hard to make it as individuals.”

The top three finishers not from the state-qualifying teams advance to state.

Dickey played the front nine well enough to overcome a shaky performance on the back and is in the hunt for one of those three spots after a 79.

Dallas’ Doug Albee finished with a 77; also in contention were South Albany’s Kyle Tudor (81) and Brett James (84) and Silverton’s Shane Stearns (83).

The Raiders hope to carry Monday’s momentum into today. They have the luxury of knowing the course well, which could come in handy if the wind picks up.

“Our goal was to play the best we could,” Mathews said. “This is our home course, so we know what to do on each hole. We tried to take advantage of our home course.”

In the girls meet at Woodburn, West Albany’s Katie Ortman shot an 83 to lead the Bulldogs to first place after the opening round of the Mid-Willamette Conference district girls golf tournament at the OGA Course.

The Bulldogs lead the 36-hole event with a 378 and can wrap up their second straight MWC title today. First tee time is 11:45 a.m.

Crescent Valley is second at 391, eight strokes ahead of Corvallis. The top two teams and top three individuals not on one of those two teams advance to the state tournament next week.

Hayley Brown shot an 88 to lead CV. Corvallis was paced by Katie Zajicek’s 88.

Mid-Willamette Conference

Results from Monday’s first round of the Mid-Willamette Conference district meets:

Boys

Team scores: Crescent Valley 297, West Albany 302, South Albany 336, Corvallis 340, Dallas 345, Silverton 373, Lebanon 386, Woodburn INC

Crescent Valley scores: Mike Ulstad 70, Willie Mathews 71, Scott Reinke 87, Tyler DeSpain 76, Sam Pape 80

Corvallis scores: Roan Dickey 79, Mike Davidson 93, Spencer Huddleston 85, Tayler Schmidt 90, Brad Rondeau 86

Girls

Corvallis scores: Katie Zajicek 88, Karly Laney 98, Megan Mattravers 104, Kayla Laney 109, Dani Brenneman 112

Crescent Valley scores: Hayley Brown 88, Char Grossnicklaus 97, Caitlyn Doyle 99, Shannon McCoy 107, Jessie Willes 118