Richland’s Underwood enjoys Junior America’s Cup experience, team win

Carl Underwood looked a bit haggard Saturday afternoon at Meadow Springs Country Club.

Underwood, who will be a senior at Richland High School, returned the night before from Mexico, where he helped Team Washington win the team title at the 44th annual Junior America’s Cup.

But there was no time to waste, as he had to get in a little practice before he left Sunday for the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championship, which starts Tuesday in Bellingham.

Though Underwood was tired, the thrill of winning the Junior America’s Cup was evident.

“We all went down there with a goal to get in the top three,” said Underwood, the reigning Class 4A state champion. “We were four strokes back going into the last day, and Ryan (Maine of Spokane) said, ‘Let’s win this.’ We did.”

Team Washington finished with a three-day total of 639 on Thursday at Guadalajara Country Club to win by a stroke over San Diego, which led the 18-team tournament the first two days.

It was the first outright title for Washington since 1995. The team tied with Oregon for the title in 2005 and 2007.

Washington needed solid rounds from all four of its players on the final day, and it got them.

Maine, the tournament medalist with a 208, shot a 1-under-par 71 during the final round, while Underwood was at 2 under, Redmond’s Sean Kato at 4 under and Bellevue’s Ian Siebers at 1 under.

“Ryan was in the last group with the San Diego guy (Charles Reiter),” Underwood said. “(Reiter) needed to shoot par, and he was 5 over. Ryan played really well. His wedge and putting were on. He had so many tap-ins for birdie.”

Underwood, who shot a 2-over 218 for the tournament and tied for 19th, was pleased with his performance — for the most part.

“The first day, I didn’t feel I played well,” Underwood said. “My putting was all over the place. The second and third days, I played decent, but not as well as I could have. That’s golf. There were 72 kids there, and 19th isn’t bad considering they are the best kids in the country in their state. There were kids there who were committed to USC and UCLA who are two years younger than me. It was insane.”

The players got to soak up a little Mexican culture while they were there. They got a tour of a tequila factory (though all players were under Mexico’s legal drinking age of 18) and took in a professional wrestling match.

“That was interesting,” Underwood said of the lucha libre adventure.

Underwood and Maine, who has committed to Washington State, will be too old to play in the tournament next year, but Underwood said it was a great experience.

“You go there, and the atmosphere, the course and the competition are unbelievable,” Underwood said. “It’s a tournament and a trip you won’t forget.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Richland’s Underwood enjoys Junior America’s Cup experience, team win."