Mac Golf: Findley stays atop conference, boys lower team scores

Meriwether National Golf Club, along the Tualatin River in Hillsboro, was the venue on April 6-7 as the Grizzlies’ golf teams took on Pacific Conference foes.

Mac’s boys approached the par-72 course Monday, finishing fourth as a team with a total score of 325. The Grizzly girls took to the links on Tuesday, where they once again battled Sherwood as the only other school to field a full varsity team. Compared to their first meeting at Michelbook, Mac secured a much more comfortable win, finishing with a team with a score of 388 to Sherwood’s 401.

With an eagle and three birdies, Mac junior Mabel Findley had the best day on the course with a score of 74. The next closest performance was an 87 from Forest Grove’s Trinity Johnson.

Senior Maria Burke had Mac’s next-best score (98). She swung a 54 on the front nine before dialing in for a 44 on the back. Gabriele Diamond finished at 103, Della Kiger shot to 113 and Isobel Rudolph concluded her day with a two-stroke improvement on the back nine for 118.

Through two league matches, the Grizzlies lead Sherwood by four points (28-24) and Findley is atop the conference leaderboard with a stroke total of 156.

The Grizzly boys climbed a spot from their first match of the season, surpassing Newberg and tying with Glencoe while in Hillsboro. Final placement for third place at Meriwether came down to a tiebreaker, which went in Glencoe’s favor.

Liberty finished second (318), while Sherwood took the team title with a score of 309.

Senior Gage Slaughter, a co-opted golfer from Western Christian, led the Grizzlies and had the sixth-lowest score of the day (76).

“Gage is doing what we expected him to do. He was one of the best golfers in the 1A-3A ranks last year, and he definitely has the ability to be a top 20 placer at the 6A level this year,” Grizzlies Head Coach Willie Graham said.

Joining Slaughter from Western Christian is Kaden Robinson, who helped the Grizzlies to an improved performance with a score of 80.

“Gage and Kaden both have been huge additions to our team this year. Many of the top teams in our league are returning many of their best players, so adding those two will help keep us in the mix to advance to regionals as a team,” Graham said.

An 87 from Chase Symons, 82 from Pete Altree and 91 from the hands of Jackson Altree rounded out the day.

Sherwood’s Tiger Lu scored the lowest total of the day at 72 even.

Mac received eight points from their fourth-place finish and are fifth in the conference with 14 total points. Individually, Slaughter is tied for third with Liberty’s Henry Furjanic, holding a total score of 153 through two matches.

Both Grizzly squads were in Newberg on Monday for a round at Chehalem Glenn Golf Course. Next week, Rock Creek Golf Course in northwest Portland is the destination for the squads for another league match on Tuesday, April 21.