Small town, big dreams for high school golfer who almost made Washington history: ‘I have a lot more stuff I want to do’

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    ILWACO, WA (KPTV) — Blake Kukula was hoping to make Washington state history in golf this year, but his dreams were dashed due to COVID-19.

Kukula, a senior at Ilwaco High School in Pacific County, was heavily favored to become the first boy to capture four state titles in WIAA history.

“I am definitely missing the practice atmosphere and going out there and just competing in general, really,” Kukula said. “It’s really hard to see the glass half-full throughout this, just because I feel like I was ripped at a chance at history.”

Kukula was hoping to hook, line, and sinker an unmatched fourth state title with the Ilwaco Fisherman.

“Winning three is huge,” Kukula said.

A 1B/2B four-peat that was not to be with the WIAA spring season shutdown in Washington state due to coronavirus.

“In the scheme of things I have a lot more stuff I want to do in my future,” Kukula said.

Kukula will pull through and play on with the Redhawks while study Kinesiology at Seattle University.

“It’s cool to come from a small area and do great things,” Kukula said.

Kukula says his small school has received a lot of support from his community.

“The 2B school is definitely small, there is nothing to argue about there,” Kukula said. “If we go compete against 3A/4A classification, it’s probably going to be a different ballgame. For me, I’ve come from a small place. We have a ton of support but it’s just, we are out in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a lot of people who, I can say, dedicate as much time to golf as I do … but it doesn’t mean I am not practicing as hard or harder than anybody out there.”

Kukula also works at his family’s business: The Greens at Surfside Golf Course.

“I think I started working in the pro shop when I was 12-years-old, just doing customer service things, and then we’d go out on the course with my dad, who is the head superintendent as well as our PGA pro there, so we got to learn the whole aspect of everything there,” Kukula said.

Kukula says he is lucky to have grown up in a golfing family.

“I have been given full access to our golf course and I’ve had everything I think a kid would want to go out and try to succeed, and I think I just respected that and spent all of my time there just spending as much time as I can and improving my game,” Kukula said.

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