Teammates as teens, friends through the years and now friendly competitors on the links.

Sequim High grads Adam Columbia and Sean O’Mera punched their tickets in mid-June to The Washington State Amateur, the premier amateur golf tourney in the state, held this week in Walla Walla.

Columbia and O’Mera are slated to tee off in the three-day, 102nd state amateur championship at Wine Valley Golf Club on June 27.

More than 600 amateurs vie for one of 120 spots at five qualifiers in the late spring.

Fittingly, the former Sequim High standouts shot identical 3-over-par rounds of 75 at the qualifier at the Home Course in Dupont on June 14 — tied for 17th and six shots behind qualifying round winner Dane Huddleston of Woodland.

Columbia and O’Mera each qualified for state tournaments in their sophomore, junior and seniors seasons. In 2003 — Columbia’s senior season and O’Mera’s junior year — the Wolves placed fifth at state as one of the smaller 3A schools in the state. (That year, Clarkston’s Joel Dahmen — a current PGA Tour Player and of Netflix fame from the PGA tour documentary “Full Swing,” won the 3A state title; Columbia was fifth and O’Mera placed 29th.)

“I feel really thrilled to make it,” said O’Mera, who after graduating from SHS in 2005 played for two-and-a-half seasons in college.

“I didn’t think my chances were too high, but I gave it my best.”

About the qualifiers

Columbia, now a Lakewood resident, graduated from Sequim High in 2004. He recalled a chance to play as a walk-on at the University of Idaho, but finished second in a 54-hole qualifier in which only one player advanced to the Vandals’ squad.

Columbia kept in the game, however: he left the university and entered the golf business, and wound up as an assistant professional at The Home Course in Dupont — the same course he and O’Mera earned their Washington State Amateur qualifiers.

Columbia spent some time on courses overseas; when he met his wife, an active duty U.S. Army officer, in 2010, she already had orders to be stationed in Germany. He worked at Heidelberg Golf Club, an American military course, and played two seasons on the European Professional Development tour.

“I did not have much success [on the our] but was able to play golf in cool places like Turkey, Morocco and Luxembourg,” Columbia said in an email.

He wound up caddying in at Valhalla Golf Club and Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., until the Army moved the couple to San Antonio, where Columbia decided to go back to school. He earned a bachelor’s degree (Summa Cum Laude) in cybersecurity (with a minor in digital forensics) before the couple moved back Washington state. His wife was offered a position at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, and Columbia now works as a cybersecurity auditor with the Washington State Auditor’s office.

After Columbia saw events run by the Washington State Golf Association and Pacific Northwest Golf Association, it prompted him to apply for reinstatement of amateur status from the United States Golf Association.

“I received my amateur status and have been playing local events since,” he said.

Columbia also joined the Veteran Golfers Association in 2018 in the family member division. He was able to qualify for the national championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif., where he won the family member division, and he won the national championships in 2019 at the Greenbriar, West Virginia. After qualifying but not being able to play for the 2020 national title (it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic), he won again in at Baltusrol, NJ, in 2021 and finished second at the 2022 national championship in Miami, Fla.

“As a self-proclaimed ‘golf course architecture nerd,’ I try to play events that are held at courses with architectural history or interest,” Columbia said. “When the Washington Golf Association championship schedule came out, and Wine Valley was the host-site for this year’s Men’s Amateur, I knew I had to try and qualify.”

O’Mera now teaches at Sequim High School, is the senior class Associated Student Body advisor and activities director at Sequim High, and coaches the SHS boys’ golf squad.

An assistant under Bill Shea for a couple of years, he took over head coaching duties in 2021.

“Coaching golf has definitely gotten me back into the game,” O’Mera said. “I love the game of golf and was introduced to it by my dad, Kelly, who is a lifetime PGA member.”

The Amateur

Columbia called his qualifying round on June 14 at The Home Course a “roller coaster,” earning birdies on holes 6, 9 and 10 but bogeys on 13, 15 and 17, and a three-putt bogey on 18 closed his round.

“The cut ended up being 4-over par because The Home Course was playing very tricky,” he said.

“After my round I went out to watch Sean play the last three holes of his round,” Columbia said. “He hit the ball so solid, and it reminded me of our high school glory days, [when] we both played very well most events.”

Both players said they are looking forward to this week’s amateur championship.

“I really look forward to Walla Walla,” said O’Mera, who added he’s looking forward to catching up with former Sequim residents the Sweet family; Tyler, former head professional at Sunland, is the head pro at Wine Valley.

“Competition will only be tougher, but I am going to play my hardest,” O’Mera said.

“I am excited to travel to Walla Walla to play the premier amateur amateur event in the state,” Columbia said, “and even more excited to be competing alongside my best friend Sean!”