George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
Both the Havre High boys and girls golf teams are proving that they are hitting their stride with the Central A divisional golf tournament less than two days away.
On Monday at the Whitefish Invitational, the HHS boys finished a solid second place with an 18-hole score of 321. The Ponies finished just 18 strokes behind Class A powerhouse and host Whitefish. The Bulldogs finished the tournament with a score of 303. Havre's solid day pleased HHS head coach Carla Bolken.
"I think the boys played some terrific golf," Bolken said. "Brandon (Job) struggled a little bit. But as a team, the boys had a very good day."
Indeed, the Ponies had two players finish in the top 10, led by senior Sean Strand, who fired a 77 on the very difficult Whitefish Lake North Course. Strand's 77 was good enough for a tie for sixth place overall. Anthony Wirtzberger also cracked the top ten with a 79.
Rounding out the scoring for the Ponies was Matt Hedstrom with an 81, Brandon Job with an 84 and Billy Wagner with an 88. As a team Havre finished just ahead of another Class A power in Bigfork. Lethbridge, Alberta and Class A Ronan finished tied for fourth.
The HHS boys weren't the only one's finding success on the Whitefish course on Monday afternoon. The Blue Pony girls also had a strong showing, finishing in fourth place with an 18-hole score of 411. The Ponies finished just behind Lethbridge, Alberta, which came in third. Perhaps the surprise of the day came in the form of the Polson girls knocking off host and defending state champion Whitefish. Polson finished the tournament with a score of 356 while the Bulldogs came in at 364.
Like the boys team, the girls finish in Whitefish also had Bolken happy, especially since the postseason is just days away.
"I was real pleased with how our girls played," Bolken said. "They are gelling at just the right time.
"As a team, things are really starting to come together," she added. "When one of them isn't playing well, someone else seems to step up and do well. That is what you need to have this time of year."
Junior Ali Ward continued her fine play this season by finishing in sixth place with a score of 92. The Ponies have been getting great contributions from their younger players. Sophomore Haley McLain gave HHS a big lift by shooting a 104, which is one of her best scores of the season. Havre also got some much-needed consistency as both Stacy Sheppard and Tabitha Beck came in with 107's.
Normally, Whitefish and Kalispell combine to form a two-day, 36-hole event, but Kalispell decided to host their meet on Friday which would conflict with Class A's divisional tournament's around the state. They plan to return to the normal format next season. Despite the long drive to play just 18 holes, Bolken said the trip was well worth it.
"I think it was definitely worth going because this is a course that will be used at state and a lot of our kids had never played it," Bolken said. "And it was a also a very good warmup for divisionals. I would say it was a very successful trip."
The Havre High golf team will be back in action on Saturday when they play in the Central A divisional tournament at the Butte Country Club in Butte.
Whitefish Invitational
Whitefish Lake Golf Club
Boys played the North Course, par 72
Girls played the South Course, par 72
Boys
Team Totals
Whitefish 303, Havre 321, Bigfork 325, Lethbridge, Alberta, 332, Ronan 332, Missoula Sentinel 336, Flathead 343, Polson 346, Flathead JV 346, Whitefish JV 337, Hamilton 352, Columbia Falls 357, Libby 360, Missoula Hellgate 362, Browning 412.
Top 10
Tyler Holtet, Whitefish 70
Josh Grenier, Ronan 72
Nate Roessman, Bigfork 74
Matt Krause, Whitefish 75
Derek Denning, Whitefish 76
Chris Conner, Whitefish 77
Sean Strand, Havre 77
Rylan James, Lethbridge, Alberta 79
Anthony Wirtzberger, Havre 79
Jim Mee, Libby 79
Team Scores
Missoula Big Sky - Brian Beach 86
Bigfork - Nathan Roessman 74, Chris Richter 80, Robert Walters 84, Owen Roberts 87, Chance Keller 89
Browning - Andrew Spottedwolf 97, Lakota Weatherwax 97, Allan BullPlume 106, Randy Talkabout 112, Clayton Juneau 117
Havre - Sean Strand 77, Anthony Wirttzberger 79, Matt Hedstrom 81, Brandon Job 84, Bill Wagner 88.
Columbia Falls - Bobby Pearce 84, Andrew Sweeney 88, Zane Rigings 92, Shawn MacNorius 93, Robbie Dakin 95
Flathead - Larry Iverson 80, Conner Tanberg 85, Drennen Waller 89, Alex Dachs 89, Jaden Treece 92
Hamilton - Paul Peterson 84, Ben Hillibaugh 84, Russell Christianson 91, Ben Linkenhoker 93, Kenny Young 95
Whitefish - Tyler Holtet 70, Derek Denning 76, Chris Conners 77, Sam Krause 80, Zac Wooten 80
Missoula Hellgate - Sam Brown 86, Alex Burchfield 90, Andrew Mayer 90, Chris Ginn 96
Lethbridge, Alberta - Rylan James 79, Ethan Danish 83, Scott Sailer 83, Jace James 86, Andrew Witzke 99
Libby - Jim Mee 79, Wyatt Crismore 90, Rory Hendrickson 91, Nate Hendrickson 100
Missoula Sentinel - Logan Ward 82, Mike Halligan 82, Ben DeMarois 85, Drew Lytle 87, Erik Johnston 89
Polson - Shawn Medland 84, Jason Newton 87, Harry Medland 87, Kellan Mills 88, Chris Hanson 98
Ronan - Josh Grenier 72, William Foust 81, Josh McGreevey 89, Chris Starkel 90, Aaron Acosta 109
Flathead JV - Ben Piersall 83, Ian Toth 86, Brian Hensleigh 87, Jonathan Iblings 90, Chad Gassoway 95
Whitefish JV - Matt Krause 75, Andrew Groschupf 83, Harrison Taylor 88, Kyle Jacobson 91, Shawn Watterud 95, P.J. Fennely 97
Girls
Team Totals
Polson 356, Whitefish 364, Lethbridge, Alberta, 401, Havre 411, Browning 432,Whitefish JV 448, Ronan 467, Libby 479, Bigfork 483, Missoula Big Sky 492, Flathead JV 518
Top 10
Anisha Chong, Lethbridge 83
Kristine Samsel, Polson 84
Maresa Jenson, Whitefish 85
Jen Orchard, Polson 86
Chelsea Ray, Whitefish 89
Amy Nordeen, Hamilton 89
Stephanie Rowold, Polson 92
Ali Ward, Havre 93
Alex Micklewright, Whitefish 94
Samie Beaver, Polson 94
Team Scores
Missoula Big Sky - Amanda Ormesher 104, Madison Morris 112, Tarah Brauer 135, Christina Cogan 141
Bigfork - Delbie Wilken 112, Amy Kuhn 121, Kaeman Meagher 125, Carson Harris 125
Browning - Jesse Scott 99, Irene Harrison 105, Glenna Upham 109, Corrina Gervais 119, Tamberly Wagner 122
Flathead - Caitland Sundbord 107, Lindsay Filler 114, Brooke Sampson 126
Polson - Kristine Samsel 84, Jen Orchard 86, Stephanie Rowold 92, Samie Beaver 94, Whitney Pitts 100
Hamilton - Amy Nordeen 89, Jessica Youngblood 109, Claire Schultz 121
Havre - Ali Ward 93, Haley McLain 104, Stacey Sheppard 107, Tabitha Beck 107
Libby - Teri Rebo 105, Korey Kulbeck 108, Katie Dedrick 116, Sperry Robinson 150
Lethbridge, Alberta - Anisha Chong 83, Kevan Bryant 104, Kelsey Huculak 105, Michelle Fletcher 109, Kendra Huculak 123
Flathead JV - Shea Clayton 120, Tarah Brown 125, Hootie Feller 137, Martha Obermiller 136
Ronan - Shayla Couture 95, Jordan Strozzi 113, Brooke Wagner 126, Lindsey Cornelius 133, Leslie Morigeau 149
Whitefish - Maresa Jenson 85, Chelsea Ray 89, Alex Micklewright 94, Quinn Micklewright 96, Hillary Johann 118
Whitefish JV - Porsche Erekson 106, Taneda Anderson 109, Ashley Archer 112, Nicole Schelling 121, Ellen Scheffer 132
