SEQUIM — Having secured a scholarship and with the ink still drying on his letter of intent to play golf at NCAA Division II Montana State University-Billings, one might assume Sequim golfer Jack Shea would have taken it easy his senior year.
“I was definitely relieved to be kind of done with it all,” Shea said of the recruiting process.
Instead of sitting back, Shea tore up golf courses from here to the Tri-Cities.
“When I signed it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder and I could just focus on playing the best golf I can,” Shea said.
He shaved a full stroke off his junior season scoring average as a senior, dropping from 36.3 to 35.23 strokes per nine holes in Olympic League play and beating his closest competitor, Olympic’s C.J. Lagat by 2.5 strokes.
Shea earned his second consecutive Olympic League MVP award, while helping the Wolves complete an undefeated Olympic League season.
“I’m just continually impressed with his drive, his love for the game and his desire to always improve,” said Bill Shea, Jack’s coach and father, and the director of golf at Cedars at Dungeness.
“Jack was medalist in every match this season, which shows incredible consistency. In the 135 holes of league play, he finished the season at a combined 6-under-par.”
And then Shea went and shot a round of 4-under-par 68 to win the Olympic League 2A Division championship on his home course.
He finished 20th at the Class 2A state championship, his third consecutive state tournament appearance, and helped the Wolves finish ninth as a team.
Shea also has been picked as the All-Peninsula Boys Golf MVP by area coaches and the Peninsula Daily News sports staff for the second straight season.
“He’s been talking about playing at a collegiate level for a couple of years now, and for his dream to come together, and to be able to be along for the ride and watch all that hard work pay off was awesome,” Bill Shea said.
Father and son both pointed to Jack’s driving ability as a primary factor in his success.
“He’s a very good driver of the golf ball,” Bill Shea said.
“He can not only hit it far, but he hits it extremely straight. He’s way better than his dad off the tee, way better.”
Jack disagreed with the latter portion of his dad’s statement, but was in line with the rest.
“I’m a pretty good driver of the ball and I hit it pretty straight,” Jack Shea said.
“I’m decently long. I’m not the longest. But, for the most part, I’m able to keep the ball out of trouble off the tee.”
Shea also worked on his touch and shot-making when playing closer to the pin.
“I was focusing a lot more on my distance control on shots from 20 to 100 yards. Just try to dial in my distances so that I not only have closer putts, but if you do miss the green you have the touch to get up-and-down.
And with a naturally high ball flight, Shea tried to develop a shot with a lower trajectory.
“I’ve been working on hitting the ball a little lower, trying to get on a knock-down shot into the wind,” Shea said.
When asked about his favorite memory of the season, Shea chose a team accomplishment, Sequim’s first-ever win in the 50th annual Tim Higgins Memorial golf tournament at Central Kitsap Golf & Country Club.
“The Higgins was fun just because I didn’t play extremely well, but our team did, and our team won the tournament for the first time in 50 years,” Shea said.
“It was nice to win that title when no team in Sequim history has ever done that.
“That was a lot of fun because it was a good team performance, nobody really won it individually.”
Shea nearly won the individual title, finishing in a tie for second with Lagat at 76, one stroke back of Central Kitsap’s freshman phenom Brittany Kwon.
Shea also was quick to praise freshman Blake Wiker for his steady play (40.85 scoring average/per nine holes) in helping the Wolves win the league title.
“I was really happy to see what Blake was able to do,” Shea said.
“I was hoping we’d have Blake shoot in the mid- to high-40s.”
The senior also offered some mentor-like advice to the freshman during the season.
“Just to not to be so hard on himself,” Shea said.
“He’s one of those kids, a 4.0 GPA in all honors classes, a real perfectionist. And sometimes out on the golf course you just have to let some things go.”
Bill Shea also enjoyed seeing Jack’s ability to post low scores away from Cedars at Dungeness.
“He really got the feeling like he could contend wherever he teed it up,” Bill Shea said.
“He shot 4-under in nine holes at White Horse, he was second at Higgins, and was in the top 15 at the Egbers for the third year in a row.
“He was really able to travel with his game, which is impressive and what he will have to do at the next level.”
________
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
