Havre High golfers reach the best, and last, 36 holes

The Havre High golf season started Aug. 10. That may have not been that long ago, but now, the seven Blue Ponies who qualified for this week's state tournament are facing the final 36 holes of 2017.

The Havre High girls team, as well as two members of the Blue Pony boys team, will tee it up at the Sidney Country Club Friday andSaturday in the 2017 Class A state tournament. And head coach Brett Gilman is excited about the final two days of the year.

"I think everybody has shown a lot of improvement," Gilman said. "From where we started, really only a month ago, to where we are now, the kids have done a great job."

In particular, the Pony girls certainly have the firepower to contend for a trophy in Sidney. Havre will have to battle strong teams from Lewistown, Billings Central and Whitefish, but the Ponies were knocking on the door a year ago, and now they're a year older.

"The girls are more than capable of competing for a trophy," Gilman said. "They will have to play well. But if all of them can shave off five or 10 strokes, they'll be right there, and they've all shown they're capable of doing that."

The HHS girls, which finished fifth at state a year ago, are led by junior Teagan Fee, who is a returning All-State performer. The Ponies' experience though, doesn't end there. Senior Grace Litzinger is playing in her fourth straight state tourney, while fellow senior Regan Lammers is making her third trip to state. Kinzee Peterson is also back at state after a great showing that included a hole-in-one last year in Hamilton. Freshman Joecelyn Staples rounds out the girls squad headed to Sidney.

"Billings Central and Lewistown are probably the favorites," Gilman said. "But if our girls just go out and play to their capabilities, they can definitely sneak in there for a trophy."

The Blue Pony boys meanwhile, won't be in the scoring this weekend, as just two Havre players qualified for state. But, that's a big accomplishment according to Gilman, considering where freshmen Nolan Lotton and Caleb Chambliss started.

"All of our boys have come a long way," Gilman said. "They've shown a ton of improvement. For those two (Lotton, Chambliss), I'm very excited for them. Like the girls, if they shave off 10 strokes from what they've been shooting, and just eliminate some of the mistakes, they'll do fine. But it's going to be a really good experience for them no matter what."

Hamilton, along with Billings Central and Laurel will be the top teams on the boys side. However, the state tourney will also be focused on Libby's Ryggs Johnston, who is Montana's top amateur golfer. He'll be going for a third individual state championship, having already won the Class B championship in his freshman and sophomore seasons. Johnston is already committed to play collegiatly at NCAA golfing power Arizona State.

The 2017 Class A state tournament gets underway Friday morning, and resumes Saturday. The tournament is being held at the Sidney Country Club for the second time in three years.