So with those two having graduated last spring, there was naturally going to be a changing of the guard. So to get it going, put up a good score, I can't beat myself up too much about it.'įor Jung, her first two year's in high school were spent in the shadow of two of the state's best female golfers - Atholton's Bryana Nguyen and Marriotts Ridge's Rachel Lee. 'The last couple years at Timbers, I felt like I just didn't hit it how I wanted. 'It's sort of hanging over my head a little bit at this point, but I feel like at the same time this was the first year I actually played well in counties,' Buch said. He has won the District and State Championship Tournaments, but never counties. It wasn't until Buch's approach missed, forcing him to settle for a birdie, that Segrist was able to celebrate the one-shot victory.įor Buch, it was the second time in his three years of high school that he has fallen a shot short of first place at the county tournament. 16, seemed to be plenty of breathing room.īut Buch made one final surge, sinking his own birdie putt on the 17th hole and then giving himself a chip for eagle on 18. That, coupled with a bogey by Buch on No. Segrist later added another birdie with another lengthy putt on No. 'So to have it go in was a pleasant surprise … at that point in the round, any putt you make is big but that one was maybe even a little bigger.' 'Walking up to the green, it certainly wasn't one of those putts you expect to make,' Segrist said.

Segrist delivered the first big blow when he sunk a 35-foot putt for birdie on the par 4 14th hole to get himself back to even par and grab the lead by one.

While Segrist and Buch were front running, several others - including Glenelg's Young Lee and Marriotts Ridge's Nick Mejia, who each ended up tied for third with 48 points - also kept themselves within a couple shots of the lead through the first 12 holes.īut as the round wore on, it quickly became a two-horse race. 'I think the frustrating part was knowing that I needed birdies if I wanted to win and then not being able to take advantage of any of the first three par fives.' 'It was like I wasn't playing that poorly overall, but at the same time just couldn't get anything going. 'Off the tee on the front nine, I was terrible - I couldn't hit a fairway - so I was scrambling and having to make a lot of saves for par,' Buch said. Buch hung tough to make the turn at one-over and made a lengthy string of pars to open the back nine to stay around the lead.

The Boys in the Back Row by Mike Jung