Central A golf hits Havre

It’s already been an exciting and successful season for the Havre High golf teams. But now, the Blue Ponies’ season gets a little more exciting, a little more intense and a little more pressure-packed. And it all happens on a golf course the Ponies know well.

On Saturday, Havre will play host to the 2013 Central A Divisional at Prairie Farms Golf Course. On the line are coveted team and individual spots at next weekend’s Class A state tournament in Polson. The top two boys teams and top two girls teams, as well as the Top 15 boys and girls will earn a trip to state. Competing on Saturday will be the Blue Ponies, Livingston, Belgrade, Lewistown and Browning.

And though there are good players throughout the boys and girls fields, first-year Havre head coach Brett Gilman noted that his team certainly has an advantage.

“All the kids have played here every day, and some, for much longer than that,” Gilman said. “So they know the course and understand how best to play it. That’s an advantage the other school’s won’t have. Our kids know how to play certain holes a certain way. They know how the course suits their game individually and they know the greens. That should really help them in this tournament.”

Playing on their home course, the Ponies could definitely double up as team champions on Saturday.

The Havre girls are a heavy favorite. The Ponies have won six tournaments this season and have finished ahead of every Central A team they’ve seen on the course this season. Havre is rock-solid throughout its lineup. Sophomore Payton Howard has led the way in recent weeks, posting career-best scores and finishes last week in two tournaments in the Billings area. Senior Katie Beck has also seen her share of top finishes this season, while fellow seniors Boston Swensen and Nikki Gabrielsen have plenty of divisional tournament experience. Beck and Swensen were state qualifiers a year ago. Sophomore Randi Gabrielsen is also another capable scorer for the Ponies, and she too has several Top 10 finishes to her credit this season.

Havre will be trying to knock off Livingston, which has won the Central A every year for nearly a decade. Lewistown is the only other squad fielding a full scoring team on the girls side. Individually, the Ponies should do quite well, though Livingston’s Christal Tokash is the defending Class A state champion, and Browning’s Summer Kennerly is another top-flight player.

“We expect the girls to win the divisional tournament,” Gilman said. “They are very capable of winning it by 20-30 strokes if they play well. I’d like to see them with a team total of 370-375. That would be a great score for them, and they’re capable of doing it. They’ve been playing very well all season and I expect them to play well on Saturday.”

The Havre boys are also capable of playing well, though the Ponies will have a bigger fight on their hands. Havre and Lewistown have been neck-and-neck all season long, while Belgrade, the defending divisional champion, comes in with perhaps the top player in the field in Tyler Ferguson.

Meanwhile, Havre is led by sophomores Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles, both of whom helped the Ponies place second at last year’s divisional tournament. Boles has won two tournaments this season, including the Havre Invite two weeks ago where he shot a career-best 75. Miller has been steady the entire season, placing in the Top 10 at six different tournaments this season. Both players are capable of rivaling Ferguson and Lewistown’s Tyrell Walter for medalist honors.

Havre’s young team will also look to freshmen Kane Gabrielsen and Dustin Haas, as well as first-year junior Wyatt Lindbloom to help the Ponies reach the state tournament as a team for the second straight season.

“The boys have been improving as the season has gone on,” Gilman said. “Now, they just have to go out and put it all together when it counts. They’ve been gearing up for this, and last week, they beat every Central A team in Laurel, so I think that gave them a lot of confidence. I believe they are capable of going out and winning a divisional title.”

And that’s the goal for both HHS teams. Havre wants to advance both teams to the state tournament, but more so, the Ponies want to do it with Central A trophies in hand. On Havre High’s Homecoming weekend, on the Ponies’ home course, that would be the ideal way to go to state.

“This is the last time anyone on this team will have a chance to play divisionals on this course,” Gilman said. “We won’t be back here for a few years, so hopefully, they go out and make the most of it.”

Saturday’s Central A Divisional will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Prairie Farms Golf Course. Weather for Saturday is a high of 69, sunny and breezy. The Class A state tournament will be held Oct. 4-5 at Mission Bay Golf Club in Polson.