North Eugene freshman Tomp wins Class 5A girls golf state tournament
One down, three to go.
North Eugene freshman Francesca Tomp built a big early lead on Monday and then held on despite some jitters in Tuesday's final round to win the Class 5A girls golf championship on her first try at Emerald Valley Golf & Resort in Creswell.
Now she will get three more chances in the coming years to follow in the footsteps of her idol Caroline Inglis and become one of the few girls prep golfers to win four state titles in a row.
“Personally, I’m aiming for at least top-two," Tomp said before the tournament. "But I’m not going to beat myself up if I finish second because I’m just a freshman. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
There wasn't a whole lot of outside pressure on Tomp, who won by three strokes over Crescent Valley’s Mercedes Marriott. The next closest finisher was Wilsonville’s Paris Wilhelm, a full 17 shots off the pace.
Tomp shot an even-par 72 in Monday’s opening round to take a seven-shot lead over Marriott. The North Eugene freshman played just well enough Tuesday to hold off her nearest competitor and finish at 7-over-par 151 for the two-day event, capturing the first OSAA individual golf title by a Highlander since Sharon Hadley won in 1980.
“High school golf is kind of weird because there’s really only one tournament that matters,” Emerald Valley head pro Laine Wortman said. “She’s been playing in OGA and junior events since she was 9 years old, so she’s played in plenty of big tournaments against really good competition. This is just going to feel different.”
Tomp teed off on hole No. 10 Monday and made two bogeys in her first four holes for a bit of a stumble, but she recovered with three birdies on her back nine to get to even-par 72 for the day. Tuesday’s round was a bit more of a rollercoaster. Tomp birdied No. 3 but then had four bogeys to make the turn at 3-over, and she added a triple bogey on No. 14, followed by another bogey on 15 to put her at 7-over for the tournament.
Marriott started her final round on No. 10 and made four bogeys before the turn to sit at 11-over, but she eagled the par-5 third hole to get back to 9-over with six holes left. She parred five of those holes, but couldn’t find another birdie to further narrow the gap.
Tomp, meanwhile, birdied the par-3 17th hole to get to 6-over for the tournament, and even a bogey on No. 18 couldn’t derail her first state championship bid.
In the end, Tomp won with rounds of 72-79—151 to finish at 7-over and Marriott shot 79-75—154 to wind up second at 10-over. Wilhelm shot 78-90—168 to claim third place at 24-over and Redmond’s Elizabeth Richardson shot 86-87—173 to finish fourth at 29-over, and the next closest golfer was another 16 strokes back.
Wilsonville won the team title with a two-day score of 766, followed by Silverton in second place (797) and La Salle in third (803). North Bend finished ninth in the team standings with a score of 1,018.
Locally, Thurston sophomore Olivia Grandberry shot rounds of 113-108—221 to finish 33rd and teammate Paige Storey shot 123-140—263 to finish 49th. Willamette sophomore Kaitlyn Steiner withdrew before the first round on Monday.
CLASS 5A BOYS STATE GOLF TOURNAMENT
Churchill senior Matthew Forsyth shot the low round of the day on Tuesday to jump up the leaderboard and finished third at the 5A boys state golf tournament, held at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis.
Forsyth was nine shots off the lead going into the final round, but he shot 1-over-par 72 on Tuesday with two birdies to slide into a third-place tie with Jaxon Wallis of Corvallis at 8-over for the tournament. La Salle junior William Koch earned individual medalist honors with rounds of 70-73—143 to finish at 1-over par for the tourney, two shots ahead of Cole Rueck of Corvallis, who shot 69-76—145 to claim second place.
Thurston teammates Kellen Humpheries and Peyton Wiedenmann both earned top-10 finishes at the tournament and the Colts finished fourth as a team. Humpheries, a senior, shot rounds of 75-78—153 to finish tied for sixth at 11-over, while Wiedenmann, a sophomore, shot 78-76—154 to tie for eighth place at 12-over.
Thurston’s other scoring golfers were sophomore Walker Bonar, who tied for 33rd at 174, senior Rhoman Ybarra, who tied for 47th at 184 and junior Corren Hester who finished 50th at 186.
North Eugene finished fifth in the team standings behind a 17th-place finish from senior Preston Brandt, who shot rounds of 80-82—162 to finish at 20-over. North freshman Caden Etchison tied for 33rd at 174, senior Brady Morris tied for 39th at 179, sophomore Will Notenboom tied for 47th at 184 and senior Andrew Helton tied for 52nd at 190.
Corvallis won the team championship with a two-day score of 633, easily besting second-place Crater (654) and third-place La Salle (664).
Other local golfers who competed included North Bend freshman Owen Bascom (T14th, 160), Springfield senior Quentin McDonald (24th, 168) and North Bend junior David Roberts (28th, 171).
Follow Zack Palmer on Twitter @zpalmer_11 or email at zpalmer@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: North Eugene Francesca Tomp wins Class 5A girls golf state tournament
