Last season Auburn Mountainview sophomore golfer Kelly Campbell took the South Puget Sound League 3A by storm, bringing home the individual league title on his way to an 18th-place finish at the state tournament.
The son of local golf pro Doug Campbell, who teaches at Washington National Golf Course, Campbell is back this season, along with a talented group of teammates, ready to make a little noise.
“We’re a pretty young team,” coach Steve Calhoun said. “We’ve got one senior, two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.”
This season Calhoun said he is relying on the leadership skills of senior Chris Quick as team captain.
In addition, the team boasts two juniors, Brendan Byrne and Garrett Light, who played junior varsity for the Lions the past two years.
Campbell, along with fellow sophomore Austin Geiger, round out the rest of the Lions’ varsity lineup.
“His (Campbell) buddy Austin Geiger has gotten better by leaps and bounds over the summer,” Calhoun said.
According to the Lions coach, a big part of the improvement comes courtesy of the teaching skills of the Campbells.
“The great thing is that Kelly and his dad, who is a pro, have taken a couple of kids aside this summer and worked with them,” he said. “And it really shows. It really helps.”
This year the team is aided by the addition of freshman Griffin Lamb, who also plays junior golf.
“Our newcomer is Griffin Lamb, and he’s been a pleasant surprise,” he said. “He’s been playing for many years and has come in and fit in that four spot for us.”
“The thing with these kids is that they are really good kids,” Calhoun continued. “They’re really fun to be around. They’re good students, they’ve got good etiquette. They joke around together, play golf together and really like each other.”
So far the team is off to quick start, with wins over Lakes and Bonney Lake.
“The kids know that every stroke they take is for the team, it’s not for themselves,” Calhoun said. “When you get to individual play and state, then it’s for themselves. But when they’re playing for the team, they have to know that when they make a decision, it could affect the team and the outcome. So if they take a high-risk shot and it costs them, then they’re taking a risk for the team.
“We try and make them understand that even if they have to scrape it and get a bogey, it’s better to be conservative and help the team. And they buy in to it. They want to know how the guys are doing behind them.”
Although team play is important, the key to success this year could ride heavily on the shoulders of Campbell, who has been golfing since he was 8.
Campbell, whose home course is the Tacoma Country Club – when he’s not playing for the Lions who golf at Auburn Golf Course – said his talent became apparent when he turned 10.
A junior golfer who participates in tournaments year round, Campbell said he is more than happy helping out his teammates during the prep season.
“I help them out with what they should hit and course management,” he said. “A lot of the high school players don’t play a bunch of tournaments like I do. So they don’t know everything that goes into putting a good round in there.”
“I just don’t really worry about anything when I’m playing, I just worry about myself,” Campbell added. “I’ll still try to help out my teammate, and get them to play better. But mostly it’s just focusing on myself and hoping the team plays good.”
Campbell, who maintains a 3.5 GPA, said he hopes to complete his high school career and move on to college at Arizona State.
“I like the sun and they’ve got a lot of good golfers. It seems like a good school and they have a marketing program there that I’m looking at, in case I don’t ever play professional golf,” he said.
If Campbell stays the course, however, the chances that he’ll eventually make the professional ranks are good, Calhoun said.
“Kelly is an accomplished golfer,” he said. “His expectations for himself are really high. Last year as a freshman he won the league, so his expectations for this year are really high. He’s got a nice swing and is very accomplished.”
