Ferndale’s Baylor Larrabee finished his junior golf career winning the Junior PGA Championship at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
“It’s awesome because it makes me feel like I can play with the best in the world,” Larrabee said. “You see some of these kids and it feels like you are not only playing against them, but the entire state. It feels awesome to represent Whatcom County.”
Larrabee competed against the top 156 junior golfers across the world July 30-Aug. 2 and won the four-round event with a score of 10-under par. Ukraine’s Lev Grinberg, and Asher Vargas and Jake Albert of the U.S. tied for second at 7-under par.
“This is the biggest thing I have won,” Larrabee said. “I haven’t qualified for other junior tournaments, which was frustrating, because I thought I could have won them. Going into this week, I had the mindset not to contend but win.”
After the first two rounds, Larrabee was tied for 17th with an even scorecard. Although he was a bit nervous, he said he did not feel pressured to make a giant leap in one round. Instead, he began to climb the rankings in the third round, jumping into fifth place at 5-under par.
On the final day, Larrabee said he knew he was destined to win after hitting a fade shot 225 yards uphill with the pin on the back left of the green.
“I hit the four iron onto the middle of the green, two-putted and birdied the first hole,” Larrabee said. “That was not a comfortable shot for me, so when I hit it, I was confident the rest of the day.”
Larrabee secured the lead after scoring five-under par from holes seven to 10, including an eagle on the 300-yard eighth hole. He has opened the door for more amateur tournaments after winning the Junior PGA Championship as well as bumping his amateur ranking to 3,947th in the world.
Larrabee also finished top five in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) 3A State Golf championship all three years he competed for Ferndale High School, including a state title in 2023 at Indian Summer Golf & Country Club.
With Larrabee’s junior career finished, his next step is joining the UCLA golf team this upcoming season as a freshman.
“There is a step between junior golf courses and college and this course was a pro-level course,” Larrabee said. “It definitely prepared me and gave me more confidence to hit more comfortably.”
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
