Power of two

Cox and Oster carry Camas to second place at state

By Dan Trujillo
June 1, 2017 5:30 am
Sports

Emma Cox admires one of her longest drives in the state tournament May 26, on the MeadowWood course in Liberty Lake. The CHS sophomore shot a 75 in the first round and a 73 in the finals to tie for third place with a 148.

Emma Cox and Hailey Oster rose into the top 10 at state, while scoring enough points for the Camas High School girls golf team to bring home a second place trophy for the second year in a row.

“We didn’t know how this was going to play out, but those two played outstanding golf and they passed a bunch of kids up,” said head coach Bob Foster. “I’m still in shock. I can’t believe we took second.”

Cox shot 1-over May 24 to finish in a four-way tie for third place on the MeadowWood Golf Course in Spokane. She scored a 75 in the first round and improved by two strokes in the finals to earn a two-day total of 148.

“I set myself up for a lot of birdies,” Cox said. “I wish I would have made more than two, but I’ll take what I could get. It was a great day.”

The CHS sophomore made a huge jump from her 32nd place finish at state a year ago.

“I didn’t go out there thinking, ‘I need to win this,'” Cox said. “Let’s go out there and have some fun, play my game and see what I can do.”

Oster landed in a few bunkers during the finals, but she saved par on most of the holes and improved her overall score by two strokes. She shot a 78 in the first round and a 76 in the finals to tie with three golfers for ninth place with a 154.

“I had the worst luck this week, but I’m happy with how I battled back,” Oster said. “There really wasn’t one big moment where I did something amazing, but I was pretty consistent. I was happy with how I hit my irons and my driver.”

Cox and Oster combined for 67.75 points to propel the Papermakers past six other schools. Kamiak took third place with 61.75 points.

Bellarmine Prep won the state team title with 163.75 points. They had eight finalists compared to the two from Camas.

“I’m really proud of how Hailey did and I’m proud of how I did, too. We just finished strong,” Cox said. “It’s really great for Camas to finish in second for the second year in a row.”

Ashley Clark, Lauryn Tsukimura, Wenny Cai and Avery Salvato missed the 83-cut into the finals for Camas.

“They learned some hard lessons about putting in the work and effort to get better,” Foster said. “Playing under pressure in some junior tournaments; it makes a difference. I think they all know that now.”

The power of two Papermakers was enough for second place this time, but it’s going to take more to put an end to the Bellarmine Prep hammerlock.

“Everyone prepare and compete all year so we can bring our best to state and try and win this thing,” Oster said.

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