Mountain View student takes home prestigious event
The title means something.
Graham Moody is a golf champion again.
To Moody, though, the result is not as important as the work toward the final outcome.
“I try to focus more on the process of preparing for a tournament,” Moody said. “You could shoot a pair of 62s and a guy can beat you by one. It’s more of a focus on preparing for an event. I felt like I was very prepared.”
The result proved that to be true.
Moody, a Mountain View High School student, won the Oregon Junior Am last week in Woodburn, Ore. After two rounds of stroke play to qualify for match play, Moody won five consecutive matches to take home the title.
“It always feels really good to get a win. To be able to play well throughout that entire week, seven rounds. You lose, you go home. You have to leave it all out there,” Moody said. “That was one of the things I was most proud of, playing the whole week without any fear of hitting a bad shot. I stayed committed to that the whole week.”
Three golfers from Southwest Washington qualified for match play. Eli Huntington of Camas reached the quarterfinals. Cade Bringhurst of Ridegfield advanced to the round of 16.
Moody was down by one after the fourth hole in the championship match against Nicholas Watts of Springfield. Moody birdied the next hole to tie the match. It was square through 10 holes, then Moody recorded back-to-back birdies to take control. He would end up winning 3-and-2.
Moody had won previous Oregon Junior Am tournaments in age brackets. This is the first year the Oregon Golf Association had an open category for all players 14 through 18.
Moody did not waste much time getting back into competition. He fired an even-par 72 on Monday in the first round of the Central Willamette Junior.
Interestingly, Bringhurst fired a 3-under 69 and was in first place.
There might not have been a high school golf state tournament this spring, but Southwest Washington golfers are having quite the summer.
