Pony golfers tee it up in East Glacier today

It’s week two for the Havre High boys and girls golf teams. And a little sunshine would be nice.

Last week started with plenty of sunshine as five Blue Pony boys and one girl opened the season at the two-day Great Falls Invitational. All six Ponies played well in what is one of the most difficult tournaments on Havre’s schedule. But things turned dark and gray last Thursday as the back nine of the Havre Golf Tournament at Prairie Farms Golf Course was rained out.

Now, the Pony varsity teams will get back at it as they travel to East Glacier and the East Glacier Lodge Golf Course for the Browning Golf Meet. It’s the first of back-to-back trips for Havre High to the famed 9-hole course, which features windy days and sightings of black bears on the fairways and in the trees.

The Ponies will battle Browning, Lewistown and possibly teams from Columbia Falls and Whitefish at the tournament, but mainly, they’ll be battling themselves, and the tricky East Glacier Course. Havre is still in the early stages of the season, but it’s a season that goes by fast, so all the Ponies who tee it up today will be trying to lower their scores and continue improving.

And improvement is something second-year head coach Brett Gilman is already seeing.

"I think most of the kids are ahead of where I thought they'd be right now," Gilman said. "So I'm really pleased with how all of our players are progressing."

In today’s varsity meet, the Pony boys will send out juniors Jerod Boles and Jeff Miller, as well as senior Wyatt Lindbloom. Sophomores Dustin Haas and Kane Gabrielsen round out the varsity lineup, while Haas has been posting some extremely low scores, including a career-best 36 on the front nine at Prairie Farms last Thursday.

The HHS girls are led by junior Randi Gabrielsen, who has already posted a Top 5 finish this season. Behind Gabrielsen, the Ponies have gone with Mackenzie Tilleman and first-year players Regan Lammers, Jordan Keith and Grace Litzinger. But junior Peyton Howard, a two-time Class A state qualifier, will also be back, strengthening the Pony lineup.

Havre tees it up in today’s Browning Golf Meet at the East Glacier Lodge Golf Course. The Ponies will return to East Glacier for the Browning Invitational next Friday, and follow that up with the Havre Invitational Sept. 13 at BCGC.