Mercer Island senior Zach Evens was on the fairway of his final hole at the KingCo medalist tournament when he was approached by Islander boys golf coach Tyson Peters. Peters had a message: if Evens birdied his final hole, he’d tie for first place at the tournament.

“He was like, ‘OK,’ and then he went ahead and did it,” Peters relayed. “It was amazing.”

Really, it was par for the course.

Evens has seen his share of down-to-the-wire moments on the green for the Islanders this season. Time and time again, he’s pulled through for his team. Last week, it was his birdie on the final hole at Snohomish Golf Course to give Evens a share of the 2A/3A KingCo medalist title.

This season, Evens finished league play undefeated, medaling at four meets and tying for medalist honors at the other three. He was the only player in 3A KingCo to finish the season with an under-par scoring average. Evens earned league MVP honors, becoming only the second Islander to win the honor in the last decade.

Peters said Evens’ senior campaign has been the best he’s seen in his ten years coaching Mercer Island boys golf.

“We’ve had a few D-1 golfers come through, but they definitely didn’t do what he was able to accomplish this year,” he said.

Evens, who has played golf since he was eight, said undoubtedly, this has been the best he’s ever played. Health has been important, as Evens had to recuperate from a back injury he had been dealing with last year. Evens also attributed his play this season to stepping into his own confidence and finding a new comfort level.

“I’ve worked hard on my game and reached a point during the summer where I got my scores to a place where I like them,” Evens said, adding his scores previously hovered around par. “That got me in the mindset that under par is the new normal.”

Peters said at several junctures this season, he’s approached Evens during close matches when the team needed him to golf “lights out.”

“Zach reached a level of play where he knew the team was riding on him,” Peters said. “If I went to him and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got four holes left, we need you to make a couple birdies or put up certain number,’ he had the confidence to go out and get job done. That’s really hard to do and really impressive to watch.”

One of those instances was against league champs Liberty. Previously undefeated, the match went into a playoff round tied 187-187. Mercer Island outlasted the Patriots 23-26 in the playoff, with Evens shooting for birdie on the final hole to deal Liberty their only loss of the season.

“I’ve learned to love pressure and understand what pressure and nerves do to me,” Evens said.

Evens is committed to play golf at Division III school Guilford College next year. He had hoped to win a KingCo title with the Islanders this year, though despite his efforts, the team fell one shot away from a league crown.

Evens’ remaining goal is to take an Islander cohort with him to the state tournament in May. Even though only two Islanders went last year, Mercer Island placed third overall as a team.

“I’d love to get a team to state,” he said. “If we could get two [players] to state, it would be amazing. Three would be phenomenal.”