Blue Pony golfers head to two tough courses

It's getting close. As summer turns to fall, the postseason for the Havre High varsity golf teams is quickly approaching.

In fact, the Blue Ponies have just two tournaments, 36 holes left before they play at the Central A Tournament next Saturday in Lewistown. And they are two very tough tournaments on two good golf courses.

Havre High will travel to Billings on Thursday for the annual Billings Central Invitational. The tournament is played at Eaglerock Golf Club, a tough, windswept course that will challenge the Blue Ponies. But the preparation for the postseason doesn't end in Billings. On Friday morning, Havre gets to play the prestigious Laurel Country Club in the Laurel Invitational. The Laurel track is one of the best kept facilities in eastern Montana, and it presents all players with a stern test.

And that's exactly what the Ponies need right now. Havre players need to play tough courses against tough competition, and that's what they'll get with this road trip. Both tournaments this week feature all of the teams from the Eastern A. And on the boys side, that will be especially good for Havre to get a look at Billings Central. The Rams, along with Laurel, are considered the top two teams in the East and they are both teams that will fight with Havre for a state championship at the state tournament in two weeks.

But, the competition will also be good because many top players from Billings will be in both fields this weekend. Typically, junior varsity players from Class AA's Billings West, Billings Senior and Billings Skyview also play in both tournaments, so the fields in both the boys and girls meets should be very competitive.

And that competition will be good for both HHS squads.

The Havre boys have only played in two tournaments they haven't won this season, the Class AA Great Falls Invitational and last week's Lewistown Invite. So playing against the best in the East will be good for HHS's stacked lineup, which is led by the trio of seniors Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles and junior Dustin Haas. All three players have Top 10 finishes at every tournament this season, except for the Great Falls event. That is, except for Boles, who did reach the Top 10 even in that talented field. Juniors Kane Gabrielsen and Aden Passon round out Havre's talented boys lineup.

On the girls side, seniors Randi Gabrielsen and Payton Howard lead an otherwise young Pony squad. Gabrielsen has been playing especially good golf as of late, in what is her fourth year on the varsity squad.

But even though Havre is young, with sophomores Regan Lammers and Grace Litzinger, and freshman Teagan Fee rounding out the HHS lineup, the Ponies are looking to peak, and be a contender at next week's Central A meet in Lewistown.

And with the two tournaments Havre High will play this week in the Billings area, it gives the Ponies the perfect opportunity to peak for the postseason.

The postseason begins with the Central A divisional next Saturday in Lewistown. The state tournament is oct. 2-3 in Sidney.

Havre will play at Eaglerock in Billings Thursday morning, followed by the Laurel Invite on Friday. The Blue Pony junior varsity teams will also host the Havre Invitational on Saturday at Beaver Creek Golf Course.