Glacier golf in command of Crosstown Cup match
Glacier's Keaton Cassidy watches his tee shot on the third hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Hailey Iverson, right, putts on the first green while teammate Kate Trunkle watches during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Ezra Epperly with teammate Josten Cripe watch Epperly's putt on the second green during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Hailey Iverson watches her tee shot on the first hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Keaton Cassidy blasts out of a greenside bunker on the third hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Will Salonen watches his tee shot on the third hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. In the background is teammate Keaton Cassidy, left, and Flathead's Josten Cripe. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Marcela Mercer watches her tee shot on the first hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Josten Cripe watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Jillian Wynne watches her approach on the first fairway during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Kate Trunkle, right, and teammate Hailey Iverson watch Trunkle's tee shot on the first hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Kate Trunkle putts on the first green during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Ezra Epperly watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Marcela Mercer chips onto the first green during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Jillian Wynne watches her tee shot on the first hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Keaton Cassidy watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Keaton Cassidy watches his tee shot on the third hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Will Salonen watches his tee shot on the third hole during the Crosstown Cup at Village Greens Golf Club on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The defending champions — Glacier Wolfpack — have a commanding 12-4 lead over Flathead after first-day action of the Crosstown Cup on Wednesday at Village Greens Golf Course.
It was a match play format for the first 18 holes with one point per match. There were 16 total matches.
“I actually thought it would be close this year,” Glacier coach Jim Schaible said.
“I have the trophy in the truck. I hope it stays in our school. That’s the idea, anyway.”
Cup play ends today with two-person, best-ball action at Buffalo Hill Golf Club. There will be eight matches — four boys and four girls.
This is the final outing of the regular season for both schools. Class AA state tournament play follows in Butte Sept. 27-28.
“Perseverance,” Schaible said of what the difference was today for his players.
“My instruction was to keep playing. You don’t know what the other person will do. They did just that. Some won with a double bogey on a hole. They just stayed with it. A couple girls did pretty good in scoring.”
One was Kate Trunkle. She had a 40.
“Which is 4-over (par),” Schaible said.
“A good score.”
Flathead’s top two girls — Marcella Mercer and Jillian Wynne — beat Trunkle and Hailey Iverson — in their matches, while Flathead’s Ezra Epperly and Joston Cripe halved with Keaton Cassidy and Will Salonen in the top two boys matches.
“The girls was close,” Flathead coach Kyle Dunfee said.
“It was 5-3, Glacier’s advantage. It came down to the No. 7 and 8 seeds.”
Glacier won both of those.
“Ham and egg it real well, play well to keep the match going,” Dunfee said of what his players must do today.
“For the boys, hit shots and make sure the short game on points.”