Under the tutelage of first-year head coach Nick Baker, a solid squad of six Islander golfers qualified for the 3A District 2 championships.
After notching second place in the team standings at the recent 3A KingCo championship, the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) boys linksters advanced to the next level of competition on Oct. 28 at Druids Glen Golf Course in Covington.
Following a regular season of nine-hole contests, during which MIHS finished 8-2 and second in the KingCo Crest division, golfers roll into 18-hole rounds at the two championship events. Next up after districts is the state championship in the spring.
Over at Snohomish Golf Course during the KingCo tourney, sophomore Lucas Kornylo led the way for MIHS with a one-under score of 71 to grab fourth place. Also for MIHS, senior Ryan Jacobson and junior Yijoon Seo tied for eighth with 74s; junior Alex Harwood tied for 12th with a 76; freshman Preston Yee competed as an individual and took 18th with a 79; and senior Jack Besecker tied for 19th with an 80.
In the team realm at KingCo, Bellevue took first with 285 points and MIHS followed with 295. MIHS also placed second to Newport (and ahead of Bellevue) in the nine-hole 2A-3A-4A Crown versus Crest contest.
Baker delved into the battle with Bellevue at the KingCo championship: “We put up a really great fight in that tournament. It was really, really close. We were neck and neck with Bellevue through 12 or 13 holes, and then that golf course gets a little tricky on the back nine, and those greens were really fast. It’s just fun any time you’re going back and forth with another great team. And we were both playing fantastic golf.”
Leading up to the postseason, MIHS shone against its Crest opponents as well and received regular-season medalist performances from Kornylo (three), Harwood (two) and Besecker and Jacobson (one apiece).
Running through his roster, Baker noted that hockey player Kornylo brings the power with his clubs and has a great touch around the greens; Harwood possesses a winning type of mentality and grinds it out on the course; captains Besecker and Jacobson are dependable golfers with good mental and short games; Seo is also a grinder who’s always working to elevate his game; and Yee has a stellar short game, is clean around the greens and is ultra-confident.
Baker, who won three 1A state golf titles at Cle Elum-Roslyn High and played Division I-II college golf at Seattle University and St. Martin’s University, believes his MIHS team is good enough to notch a state title.
“We’ve had a great team historically in the past. The coaches have done a fantastic job of sort of building a deep culture within the Mercer Island boys golf program. We just had a lot of great successes and I hope to continue those,” said Baker, who gave a shout-out to team mom Joci Besecker for helping the Islanders along the way off the course.
The motivational coach’s philosophy revolves around spreading the values of awareness, confidence and calmness throughout his roster.
“I’m trying to cultivate a sort of peace of mind where they can go out there and execute the strategy that we’ve implemented,” Baker said.
