TACOMA — Joey Duwe’s goal heading into the Washington Junior Golf Association State Tournament was to place in the top five out of a talented field of 60 golfers in attendance.
Instead, he finished in 22nd place after shooting an 80 in the first round at Tacoma’s Fort Lewis course July 25 and a 72 in the second round of the tourney at Tacoma’s Fircrest course July 26.
And while Duwe missed the cut by one stroke to advance to the final round, the experience was well worth the trip.
“My first round didn’t go very well for me. After I shot an 80, I was in 31st place and knew I needed to make up a ton of strokes in the second round to make the cut,” Duwe said. “I figured if I could hit a 72, it would give me a good shot to make it.”
And that’s exactly what Duwe did.
“I parred on 15 holes in the second round to give myself what I thought was a pretty good chance,” he said. “After I finished the round I figured it would be good enough to make the cut.”
Since Duwe was one of the first golfers to finish, he milled around the clubhouse as the final scores slowly trickled into the office.
“I was waiting around and the scores started to come in. Eventually, I found out I had finished in 22nd after two rounds,” he said. “I ended up missing the cut by one stroke.”
Duwe was shocked he didn’t advance to the third and final round of the tournament.
“One of my friends called me and asked how I did. When he asked me that I didn’t say anything after 10 seconds,” Duwe said. “He said, ‘That’s all I need to know.’ It was pretty disappointing.”
Duwe said his first round score of an 80 dealt a considerable blow to his chances of success at the WJGA tournament finale.
“It basically came down to the fact that I wasn’t driving the ball very well,” he said. “I have to to get to the greens to have success. Once I get to the greens my putting is fine. The challenge is getting the ball there.”
Despite not performing as well as he’d hoped at state, Duwe was proud of the wide array of accomplishments he earned this summer.
“It’s been a lot of fun. My game is pretty solid,” he said. “I improved a lot this summer and won some tournaments. I want to keep on doing that.
