"Swanson has rough start...Ex-Saint shoots 75 on first day of sectional tourney" -- Aug. 8, 2006

By Caleb Breakey
The Olympian

TUMWATER - Steady, soft wind blew through trees and their branches, spotting the fairway with dancing shadows at the Tumwater Valley Municipal Golf Course on Monday.

Close by, Kris Swanson readied a putt on the green of the ninth hole in the annual PGA Pacific Northwest Section Assistant Professional Championship.

He ruffled his white, collared shirt as he inched close to the golf ball, taking three practice strokes. His hands gripped the club parallel to his dressy black pants while family and friends watched in silence, mimicking his statue-like stillness.

Swanson, a 2000 Capital High School graduate, slightly reared back his golf club and putted the ball across the green, sinking it for a bogey. Claps broke the silence as Swanson bent down, picked up the ball, raised his eyebrows and released a deep breath.

The former Saint Martin's No. 2 golfer of four years wiped his face with a white towel and gave hugs to his family before trekking to the course's tenth hole. Swanson, who was supported by his mom, aunt and godparents, knows the Tumwater golf course well.

"This is my home course; I should know it better than anybody," he said. "I have my family out here - I want to play well for them. Some days you have it and some days you don't."

Swanson - plagued mostly by missed putts - found himself somewhere between his good and bad days. He finished his round with a score of 3-over-par 75.

Mark Garand, Swanson's godfather, said part of Swanson's problem was the tempo of play. The two other golfers in his flight, Frank Crimp of Ellensburg and Zach Cabe of Kayak Point, golfed at a slower pace.

"If they speed up then his game will smooth out," Garand said midway through the event. "It's a mental thing. It's been real herky-jerky."

Still, Swanson smiled throughout the day, which Garand said is a must - "otherwise it's going to eat you up."

Crimp, who finished the day tied with Swanson, said being clocked might have thrown off his flight's tempo, such as Swanson's putts.

"He rushes himself because he's a quick player," Crimp said. "He's a good putter because he hits his putts solid, but he's got a lot of pace to them, and it cost him a couple of times. I don't think anybody likes to be put on the clock."

Adrian Burtner of Columbia Edgewater finished the day with a 6-under 66, one stroke ahead of Ryan Benzel of Seattle.

Burtner, who won the E-Z-GO Pro Assistants Championship in March, had six birdies and an eagle en route to his first-day lead. Today's shotgun tee-off is at 7:30 a.m.

The top two qualifiers advance to the PGA Assistant Professional Championship Oct. 26-29 at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Swanson, who said he would be practicing putts early Tuesday, erased his first-day results in a hurry. With family close by, he walked toward the golf course's parking lot.

"I'm going to go get a cold beer right now with my mom and my aunt," he said. "Once I leave the golf course, it's over with. I can't dwell on it. You just have to let it go, come back tomorrow and perform better."