Glacier boys on course for another high finish

It’s been a short, blistering summer, so of course the Class AA golf season is coming in hot.

The season begins today for Glacier and Flathead high schools, at the Great Falls Invitational. The two-day tournament starts at the Meadow Lark Country Club and ends Tuesday at Eagle Falls Golf Course.

Glacier’s boys, third at state last October, return the strongest cast, including All-State players Will Salonen and Keaton Cassidy, both seniors, and junior Tyler Avery.

Salonen was sixth at state in 2020, while Avery was eighth and Cassidy was 11th.

“Another player back from last year, another senior, is Coby Kunda,” added Glacier coach Doug Manaker. “That’s my nucleus. Then I have another senior in Josh Mortenson and junior Trey Engellant, and a big freshman class coming in with some really good players.

“I expect that to add a lot of depth.”

The Wolfpack lost two seniors, Sam Manaker and Ethan Purdy, off a team that won the Western AA Divisional. Missoula Sentinel, playing at the Missoula Country Club and Larchmont Golf Course, surged past Bozeman Gallatin and Glacier to win state.

The Wolfpack had a strong start and a rough second day.

“They’re really excited,” Doug Manaker said of his charges. “We finished third at state and were three strokes off the lead after the first day. I think they feel like they have some unfinished business, to go out and play even better. We beat the Spartans at divisionals by 20 strokes.”

State is in Bozeman, and Gallatin and the Verge twins, Justus and Jordan, will again be a force. The twins went 1-2 while leading Bozeman High to the 2019 AA state championship (Avery was third that year as a freshman) before transferring to the new school in 2020.

State will be at Cottonwood Hills Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

“They’ll be tough because they’ll have played that course quite a bit,” Manaker said of the Raptors. “But we’re up for the challenge. I think my guys are enthusiastic about and looking forward to the season.”

Flathead’s boys didn’t take a team to state (the Braves were fifth at the Western AA, and top four teams advanced) and lost top player Ezra Epperly, the Western AA medalist, to graduation and Lewis-Clark State.

The top returnee is Joston Cripe, whose presence this season was in question.

“He tore his ACL playing basketball last year and we weren’t expecting to have him back,” third-year Flathead head coach Roy Antley said. “But he’s been cleared for non-contact, and so we’re just thrilled to have him back on the course.”

Added to the mix are seniors Kadin Hall, Drew Lowry and Korbin Hawley, and promising underclassmen Tyler Williams (sophomore) and Dylan Morris (freshman).

“We’re going to have a lot of seniors this year,” Antley said. “We just missed last year, and that’s the goal this year, to get to state.”

Flathead’s girls did get to state, finishing seventh while Glacier was eighth. The Bravettes’ top golfer, Marcella Mercer, is headed for Washington & Lee; Jillian Wynne, now a senior, was also All-State last year (tied for 12th) and leads the way this season.

Next is McKinlie Murer, a junior who competed at state along with senior Sophia Dykheuizen. Antley notes both Murer and Wynne have put in work over the summer, and is excited about the potential of sophomores Ladahlia Hook and Becca Vosen, not to mention senior Clare Converse, who is competing in golf for the first time.

“She has a great natural swing,” Antley said of Converse. “Our No. 1 is going to be Jillian Wynne. She is just a steady player. Consistency is probably her biggest strength.”

Glacier’s top returnee is senior Stella Claridge, who competed at state last year, along with juniors Kenna Sandler and Colette Daniels and sophomore Chloe Tanner.

Manaker is impressed with the tournament time Claridge put in over the summer, and notes that Tanner had a very promising freshman year. “I think she’ll continue to grow and get better,” he said.

After that, Manaker said a couple upperclassmen might figure into the fifth spot. “We’re just kind of looking for someone to step up,” he said. “There’s a shot for some people to come in and play.”