Blue Ponies off to state golf tourney

There's only three of them, but never the less, the Havre Blue Ponies will be looking to make an impact as the Class A state golf tournament.

Blue Ponies Simon McCann, Sam Lippy and Nikki Gabrielson will tee it up at the 2011 state tournament Friday morning at the Hamilton Golf Club in Hamilton. The season finale is a 36-hole event with 18 holes on Friday and another 18 holes on Saturday. Team titles and medalist honors are up for grabs in Hamilton, but the Blue Ponies will only be vying for individual honors. Havre failed to qualify its boys and girls teams for the state tournament, but the Ponies still have a presence.

McCann is making his second straight trip to the state meet. He's been Havre's No. 1 golfer for most of this season and all of last. He finished 11th at last weekend's Central A meet in East Glacier and has three Top 10 finishes this season. McCann's best rounds of the season came on a road trip to Billings and Laurel two weekends ago, and he also played well at the Great Falls Invitational last month. So he knows how to play on big courses.

Lippy has been Havre's most consistent player the last three weeks. He's shot between 85 and 95 in his last five rounds and finished a solid ninth at last week's Central A meet in East Glacier. Lippy has been a three-year varsity player for the Blue Ponies and has made steady improvements this season according to Blue Pony head coach McKinsey Rodriguez.

On the girls side, sophomore Nikki Gabrielson is making her first trip to the state tourney. Gabrielson's run to the state meet has been impressive considering this is her first season of competitive golf. And she's playing well heading into the state meet. Gabrielson shot a 101 to finish seventh at last week's divisional meet.

As for the competition this weekend, Havre players won't be competing against teams, but rather individuals. The defending team champions are Hamilton on the boys side and Billings Central on the girls. Both teams are heavily favored again this year, especially with the Broncs playing on their home course. The Billings Central boys also bring a strong team to the state meet, and teams from Whitefish are expected to be strong on both the boys and girls side. Laurel and Polson also field strong boys and girls teams.

The Ponies' three golfers will also be competing against the course itself. The course is a mountain course with plenty of elevation changes and tall standing pine trees. It's also a fairly long, Par 72, playing at around 6,600 yards. The course is also heavily bunkered and features some of the most spectacular mountain views in all of Montana golf.

For a change the weather shouldn't play too much of a factor in this year's state tournament. The high for Friday is expected to reach 89 with no wind and plenty of sunshine. There are slight rain showers expected for Saturday, but temperatures are still expected to reach into the 80s with little or no wind.

The Class A state golf tournament gets underway Friday morning with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. The tournament will conclude with another shotgun start on Saturday morning.

Havre High's Sam Lippy is headed to this weekend's Class A state golf tournament in Hamilton.