WHS golfers in familiar spot - first
Different tournament, same result.
The Whitefish boys and girls dominated the Flathead Invitational Friday at Village Greens Golf Course and Buffalo Hill Golf Club with team scores of 279 and 347, respectively.
Village Greens hosted the boys where Tyler Holtet led the Bulldogs with a 64 - a score even Whitefish head coach Terry Nelson has never seen. Holtet is shooting for his third individual title in one week after winning the Whitefish Invitational and the Northwest A Divisional.
"I played well today," Holtet said. "My driver caused me some trouble, but it's a fairly open course."
Second-place Flathead posted a 303 score. Taylor Gardner shot the low round, a 72, for the Braves.
"Taylor is right there," Flathead head coach Alice Ritzman said. "Except for a couple of bogeys, he could have been in the 60s, which is where he should be, I think."
Gardner and his group finished just before the rain began to pour. The dry weather held for most of the day, but the last groups were soaked by the time they turned in their scorecards. The forecast has the rain sticking around for the weekend, which will cause soft greens and slick grips.
Flathead's junior varsity squad had a strong showing, and sits in fifth place after the first round.
The boys kick off their final round at 8:30 a.m. today at Buffalo Hill. Numerous hazards and tree-lined fairways will make for a tougher second day, but Whitefish holds a comfortable lead as the boys hope to win their third team title this week.
"This team is the best Whitefish has ever had," Nelson said. "They play in a lot of tournaments, have a lot of experience, and they aren't afraid to go low."
The girls spent the day competing at Buffalo Hill where the Lady Dogs, coming off a second-place finish at divisionals, returned to their leading ways. Whitefish's Alex Micklewright scored the low round of the day with an 83, just a few strokes from a personal best. Although she was 1-under after five holes, a string of bogeys and two shots into the water placed her permanently over par.
For the third-place Bravettes, Lindsay Filler led her team as she shot a personal best 97. She worked on shortening her backswing this week, and the practice paid off with added consistency.
"I played really good today," Filler said. "Hopefully, I'll do the same thing tomorrow."
Second-round tee times for the girls also begin at 8:30 a.m. The girls will tackle the course at Big Mountain Golf Club.
Flathead Invitational
Boys
Team Totals
Whitefish 279, Flathead 303, Great Falls CMR 308, Missoula Big Sky 311, Flathead J.V. 314, Missoula Sentinel 321, Missoula Hellgate 322, Great Falls High 324, Whitefish J.V. 326, Columbia Falls 395
Top 10
Tyler Holtet, Whitefish 64
Sam Krause, Whitefish 69
Zac Wooten, Whitefish J.V. 71
Taylor Gardner, Flathead 72
Kevin Cotner, Missoula Big Sky 72
Nick Richards, Great Falls CMR 72
Derek Denning, Whitefish 73
Matt Krause, Whitefish 73
Chris Conners, Whitefish 73
Kyle Terell, Missoula Big Sky 74
Andre Groschupf, Whitefish J.V. 74
By Team
Whitefish - Tyler Holtet 64, Sam Krause 69, Derek Denning 73, Matt Krause 73, Chris Conners 73
Flathead - Taylor Gardner 72, Larry Iverson 75, Alex Dachs 77, Brandon Schuff 79, Kyle Dunfee 81
Columbia Falls - Jacob Lutz 92, Michael Hensley 97, Bobby Lawson 96, Luke Lengstorf 110
Great Falls CMR - Nick Richards 72, Garrett Rodger 76, Ryan Myers 78, Brad Dockter 82, Matt Beard 85
Great Falls High - Ethan Lee 76, Matt Larcombe 79, Ty Moody 80, Casey Labaty 89, Tyson Lunn 93
Missoula Hellgate - Sam Brown 76, Conner VanFossen 78, Chris Ness 83, Josh Morrison 85, Alex Burchfield 86
Missoula Big Sky - Kevin Cotner 72, Kyle Terrell 74, Jason Johnson 77, Travis Salo 88, Jon Doubleday 96
Missoula Sentinel - Logan Ward 75, Riley Byrde 79, Drew Lytle 82, Erik Johnston 85, Pat Gentilli 87
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 347, Great Falls CMR 398, Flathead 401, Missoula Hellgate 420, Whitefish J.V. 430, Flathead J.V. 434
Top 10
Alex Micklewright, Whitefish 83
Maresa Jenson, Whitefish 85
Chelsea Ray, Whitefish 85
Morgan Lee, Great Falls High 92
Natalie Beard, Great Falls CMR 93
Nicole Schelling, Whitefish J.V. 93
Quinn Micklewright, Whitefish 94
Kristen Carey, Missoula Hellgate 94
Kendra Clark, Great Falls High 96
Lindsay Filler, Flathead 97
By Team
Whitefish - Alex Micklewright 83, Maresa Jenson 85, Chelsea Ray 85, Quinn Micklewright 94, Porsche Erekson 102
Flathead - Lindsay Filler 97, Emily Betthauser 98, Betsy Engle 99, Brooke Sampson 107, Briana Mitchell 113
Great Falls CMR - Natalie Beard 93, Megan Johnson 100, Alexa Bell 101, Sara Palagi 104, Ashley Mahoney 105
Great Falls High - Morgan Lee 92, Kendra Clark 96, Brittney Kuntz 108
Missoula Hellgate - Kristen Carey 94, Whitney Lamb 101, Kayla Tromp 110, Ellen Wilson 115
Missoula Sentinel - Shelbi Dantic 123, Lindsey Galipeau 128
Whitefish J.V. - Nicole Schelling 93, Hilary Johann 105, Ashley Archer 112, Tanita Anderson 120, Ellen Scheffer 129
Flathead J.V. - Shea Clayton 107, Caitlin Sundborg 108, Hootie Feller 109, Taran Brown 110, Martha Obermiller 125