Whitefish, Flathead golfers off to strong starts
Although the score didn't necessarily excite Whitefish's Chelsea Ray, she was more than satisfied with her placing.
Ray shot an 11-over-par 81 on Friday during opening-round action at the Flatfish Invitational at Village Greens Golf Course. That left her sitting third in individual play and three shots off the pace heading into today's final 18 holes at Whitefish Lake Golf Club's South Course.
"It was OK," said Ray of her score.
"I wish I would have played a little better. I was hoping to shoot in the 70s."
Only two golfers managed to break 80 on the first day at Village Greens. Alexa Bell of C.M. Russell turned in a 78 and Lindsey Erickson of Helena High followed that with a 79.
Ray, a junior, was in the same foursome with the two leaders along with Alyssa Biskopiak of Helena Capital. She shot 82.
"I don't like to be too far back, but I don't like to be in the lead either," Ray said.
"It makes it more challenging when I'm behind."
Whitefish and C.M. Russell are tied for first place in the team standings with 356 totals. Helena Capital, 370, is third.
Flathead leads the boys field with a 307 total. Whitefish is three shots back in second place and C.M. Russell 315.
The boys played the Whitefish Lake South Course on Friday. They finish with 18 holes today at Buffalo Hill Golf Club.
Whitefish's Tyler Holtet leads individual play with an even-par round of 71. Sam Krause is two shots back, 73, with Brady Kangas and Austin Gates, both of CMR third with 74s.
"He was happy with finally having a really good round, a consistent round," said WHS coach Terry Nelson of Holtet's effort.
"Two birdies, two bogeys."
Flathead's Larry Iverson and Drennan Waller both shot 75 and are tied for fifth.
Ray started play on the back nine, struggling to post a 39. That score included five bogeys and a birdie.
"It was kinda rough," she said.
"I had some three putts for bogeys."
Ray said her long game, normally one of her strengths, was also hit and miss.
"Luckily the course isn't that long," she said.
"My 100 club, I was hitting it well today."
Ray finished her round by shooting a 42 on the front.
Ray opened the week by taking medalist honors and guiding Whitefish to the Northwestern A divisional title on Tuesday in Ronan.
"I want to win the last three tournaments (of the year)," said Ray.
"I got divisional and now hopefully (Flatfish and state). As a team, I want to win all three."
The Flathead girls were sitting sixth in the team standings with a 381 total. Emily Betthauser led the way with an "I' really pleased with her tied," said FHS coach Alice Ritzman of Betthauser.
"She's had kind of a tough year, missed a couple tournaments because of school. It's nice to see her bounce back and play well."
Ritzman said the Bravettes "probably had their best opening score all year. Maybe they will gain a little confidence from this."
Today's play at Whitefish Lake and Buffalo Hill is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
Boys
Whitefish Lake Golf Club
South Course
Par 71
Team Totals
Flathead 307, Whitefish 310, C.M. Russell 315, Helena High 322, Missoula Big Sky 322, Flathead 2 326, Helena Capital 326, Whitefish 2 328, Missoula Sentinel 329, Libby 330, Polson 340, Missoula Hellgate 342, Ronan 347, Great Falls High 355, Whitefish 3 375, Columbia Falls 378, Eureka 423.
Top 10
Tyler Holtet, Whitefish 71
Sam Krause, Whitefish 73
Brady Kangas, CMR 74
Austin Gates, CMR 74
Larry Iverson, Flathead 75
Drennan Waller, Flathead 75
Jim Mee, Libby 76
Connor Tanberg, Flathead 77
Grahm Schmaltz, Flathead 2 77
Ethan Lee, Great Falls 77
By Team
Flathead (307) - Larry Iverson 75, Drennan Waller 75, Connor Tanberg 77, Ben Biersall 80, Jaden Treece 83.
Whitefish (310) - Tyler Holtet 71, Sam Krause 73, Zac Wooten 82, Derek Denning 84, Andre Groschupf 90.
C.M. Russell (315) - Brady Kangas 74, Austin Gates 74, Aareon Remus 79, Jordan Hustad 88, Matt Beard 89.
Helena High (322) - Jacob Ruzicka 79, Sean Puckett 79, Kyle Poore 82, Josh Prebil 82, Tanner Flansaas 94.
Missoula Big Sky (322) - Jake Cooper 79, Kyle Terrell 80, Jason Johnson 81, Brian Beach 82, Travis Salo 87.
Flathead 2 (326) - Grahm Schmaltz 77, Aaron Young 80, Kevin Burfeind 84, Brian Hensleigh 85, Justin Newton 88, Jake Miller 90, Cody Grosswiler 93.
Helena Capital (326) - Chance Petek 78, Ben Ternes 82, Pat Rivers 83, Bryson Buska 83, Grady Stinchfield 83.
Whitefish 2 (328) - Ryan Zalucky 80, Daniel Markus 80, Joel Mallams 81, Sean Watterud 87, Zach Maassen 91.
Missoula Sentinel (329) - Logan Ward 79, Connor Buckley 82, Ben DeMarois 82, Ryan Colberg 84, John Halligan 84.
Libby (330) - Jim Mee 76, Tyler Wilkonski 78, Eric Anderson 87, Zach Watson 90, Rory Hendrickson 91.
Polson (340) - Tyler Engebretsen 82, Shawn Medland 85, Harry Medland 85, Jake Grebetz 88, Aaron Clairmont 95.
Missoula Hellgate (342) - Sam Brown 83, Alex Schultz 84, Brian O'Day 87, Alex Burchfield 88, Justin Reynolds 97.
Ronan (347) - William Foust 80, Josh Ridgley 87, Mike Wolf 89, Nolan Harris 91, Kody Moderie 101.
Great Falls High (355) - Ethan Lee 77, Logan Donisthorpe 89, Cooper Thomas 94, Matt Larcombe 95, Casey Labaty 100.
Whitefish 3 (375) - Joe Blackmore 89, Cole Havens 93, Kyle Jacobson 94, Alex Feher 99.
Columbia Falls (378) - Bobby Pearce 80, Chase Grilley 92, Logan Sandman 97, Jacob Lutz 109.
Eureka (423) - Grady Grayson 80, Dalton Williams 85, Mattie Longfield 87, Devon Miller 91, Jacob Grove 103.
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Girls
Village Greens Golf Club
Par 70
Team Totals
Whitefish 356, C.M. Russell 356, Helena Capital 370, Helena High 372, Polson 378, Flathead 381, Ronan 406, Flathead 2 422, Missoula Sentinel 460, Libby 474.
Top 10
Alexa Bell, CMR 78
Lindsay Erickson, Helena 79
Chelsea Ray, Whitefish 81
Alyssa Biskupiak, Capital 82
Whitney Lamb, Hellgate 84
Shayla Couture, Ronan 85
Abby Hunthauser, Helena 88
Emily Betthauser, Flathead 89
Natalie Beard, CMR 89
Ashley Archer, Whitefish 89
By Team
Whitefish (356) - Chelsea Ray 81, Ashley Archer 89, Breanna Cameron 92, Quinn Micklewright 94, Hillary Johann 96.
C.M. Russell (356) - Alexa Bell 78, Natalie Beard 89, Ashley Mahoney 92, Kelsey Johnson 97, Megan Johnson 104.
Helena Capital (370) - Alyssa Biskupiak 82, Mikal Chancy 93, Amy Miller 97, Whitney McLaughlin 98, Kate Murray 103.
Helena High (372) - Lindsay Erickson 79, Abby Hunthauser 88, Breanne O'Connor 101, Trista Vogl 104, Kassidi Demars 111.
Polson (378) - Julia DiGiallonardo 89, Colleen Devoe 90, Natalia Arlint 93, Lacy Kvam 106, Cali Hislop 118.
Flathead (381) - Emily Betthauser 89, Brooke Sampson 94, Karli Aurich 99, Betsy Engle 99, Taran Brown 106.
Ronan (406) - Shayla Couture 85, Brook Wagner 102, Lindsey Cornelius 106, Kayla Keplin 113.
Flathead 2 (422) - Sarah Cunningham 102, Martha Obermiller 105, Shea Clayton 106, Caitlin Sundborg 109, Beth McNutt 111, Michelle Tanberg 12.
Missoula Sentinel (460) - Betsy Demarios 94, Shelby Dantic 117, Rachel Eisenman 121, Mikee Sandall 128, Lindsey Bulipeall 131.
Libby (474) - Sperry Robinson 97, Holly Cirian 112, Korey Kulbeck 117, Alyshia Sanderson 148.
CMR (2) - Betsy Yeager 97, Sarah Palagi 101, Shelbi Frieling 101.
Hellgate - Whitney Lamb 84, Sadie Russell 92, Michelle Carey 97.