Ferndale senior Baylor Larrabee spends six to eight hours a day on a golf course, seven days a week.
That’s why the reigning Class 3A individual state champion and 2023 Washington Junior Golf Association (WJGA) Player of the Year will be competing at UCLA next year. Larrabee’s state title last season was the first in Ferndale’s history.
“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime kid coming through,” Ferndale boys golf head coach Chad Hoidal said of Larrabee. “You don’t get kids like this. I mean, he has a chance of being a four-time Northwest Conference MVP.”
Larrabee is the clear choice for the award. The regular season wrapped up on Tuesday, April 30, and Larrabee possesses a 69.7 season average in NWC tournaments.
Rex Wilson and Ben Wilson from Burlington-Edison — widely considered the league’s golfer factory — are the next closest with a 71.8 before a three-stroke drop-off to the fourth-place golfer.
Larrabee’s current practice regimen was made possible by a switch to full-time Running Start ahead of his junior season in 2023. On a normal high school schedule, he was lucky to get three to four hours of practice each day. Running Start allows high school students to take classes online or in the evening.
“Now I’m able to spend as much time out on the course as I want during the day, and then go do my school at night,” Larrabee said. “I remember … going into the spring [of 2023] being like, ‘OK, this feels like a lot different than it did last year.’”
With his final high school postseason about to start, Larrabee wants to set a high bar for the Ferndale golfers coming up behind him — namely by earning a second state championship and gunning for a team title.
‘I’d rather be at a golf course’
Larrabee comes from a family of collegiate basketball players, which is apparent by his 6-foot-5 frame.
But at a young age, his father and grandfather introduced him to golf. Larrabee was born in Bellingham and lived in Ferndale until kindergarten before moving to Indiana. His family returned to the same house in Ferndale when he was in fourth grade.
Up to that point, Larrabee only played golf for fun and on occasion. He also played basketball in the winter. In sixth grade, however, he made a decision while playing in a three-on-three basketball tournament.
“I remember telling my dad ‘I don’t want to be out here. I’d rather be at the golf course,’” Larrabee said. “That’s kind of when I was like, ‘OK, I know what I want to do.’”
In eighth grade, he dropped basketball entirely and golf became his sole focus. It wasn’t for any single reason, Larrabee said, but rather a strong pull to the sport and his childhood addiction of simply hitting the ball becoming a teenage passion.
As a freshman in 2021, Larrabee qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at The Country Club in North Carolina, which remains his favorite course.
He also won his first WJGA tournament — an achievement that was his initial dream as a kid. In 2023, he won three different WJGA tournaments and made history with the Ferndale program.
“There were some kids better than him in middle school and younger,” Hoidal said, “but he just worked harder than them. It showed on the golf course.”
College scouts, however, had already picked up on Larrabee’s game before he became a statewide sensation.
Finding the perfect destination
Larrabee verbally committed to Gonzaga University before his junior season. At the time, he thought it was the best offer he would receive.
“Then, going into the spring, I kind of got hot,” Larrabee said with a laugh.
So he reached out to UCLA and connected with Bruins’ head coach Armen Kirakossian. After an official visit in June 2023 — one month removed from winning a state championship — he decommitted from Gonzaga and chose UCLA.
“I texted [Gonzaga coach Robert Gray] and I got on a phone call with him. It was a tough call,” Larrabee said. “I think, looking back on it, it’s going to be worth it.”
Larrabee will be one of two incoming freshmen next season alongside Trevor Garus from Boise, Idaho. He will be the only player from Washington on the team’s roster.
While Larrabee may be an outlier in Ferndale’s golf history, he is doing his best to make sure the program’s success continues, Hoidal said. Larrabee’s low postseason scores have helped the team qualify for state as a group each of the last two years, but they didn’t place a season ago.
Larrabee is hoping to get on the state leaderboard with his teammates this season while helping guide the underclassmen. Sophomore Travis Brockie often stays late after practice with Larrabee, and he has risen to 12th in the NWC standings this season with an 80.8 average.
If nothing else, Hoidal hopes that has set the tone for the program moving forward.
“[Larrabee] put himself in this position because of his work ethic. The kid grinds every day,” Hoidal said. “At least [other Ferndale players] can see what it looks like to practice with a purpose, and be successful because of it.”
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
