The Orcas, Lopez, North Sound Christian, and St. Paul schools met at the Lopez Island fairways to play golf and enjoy the spring weather. Orcas and Lopez, which both had enough personnel to make full teams, played against one another. Orcas won, 228 to 260, and Taylor Diepenbrock from Orcas took the medal for the day, shooting a spectacular 36 in nine holes.

The other two teams brought individual players. North Sound Christian brought one boy and St. Paul brought three girls.

“We took seven boys and one girl to Lopez,” Orcas Coach Bobby Olmsted said. “Also shooting well on Thursday was Alan Coe with a 40 and Miles McCloskey qualified and shot a 48. We now have six qualifiers and two matches left. I always try and bring individuals who are close to qualifying so that they have a chance at district play. Cetacea Stanton shot a 51 that day as well.

“All my players know they need to continue to work hard,” Olmstead said.

And with only two weeks left before district competition starts, the golf teams on the islands don’t have a lot of time. Orcas played La Conner at home on Tuesday, April 28, which was its last home golf game. Then league championships begin on Thursday, May 7 at Friday Harbor with a tee off at 9 a.m.

“That will be an 18-hole match, and we should be done by 2 p.m. Friday Harbor, La Conner, Orcas, and one player from Shoreline Christian will participate in the championships, but Lopez is in a different league and we won’t see them there that day,” Olmsted said. “After the championships, we have districts coming up on May 13 and 14. We play the Gallery fairways on Whidbey Island and that’s a great golf course, with fantastic views of the Olympics and on the back 90, you’re looking right at Mt. Baker. It’s got everything: a gorgeous view, tight fairways, big trees, dog-legs …. very wooded and very open in places. It will be a challenging course for the young people.”