Teeing off: Ponies hit the course

For some, the golf season is starting to wind down. But for golfers on the Havre Blue Pony golf team, things are just starting to get interesting.

With just three days of practice in the books, the Blue Pony varsity golf teams will travel to Meadowlark Country Club for the first round of the season-opening Great Falls Invitational. The HHS golf teams will remain in Great Falls for Tuesday's second round of the GF Invite, which is scheduled to be played at Eagle Falls Golf Course.

While another season of Havre High golf is back so, too, is head coach Brett Gilman, who took over the program a year ago, helping the HHS girls to a Central A Divisional team title, as well as bringing along a solid, but young Pony boys squad.

Now, in his second year at the helm, Gilman is excited about both his boys and girls teams, as he has plenty of returning talent on the golf course. And he's excited to see what all his golfers can do in the next two months, including this week's tournament in Great Falls and the Havre Golf Tournament, which will be held Thursday at Prairie Farms Golf Course.

"Our season is short and sweet so we have to get out there right away and get started," Gilman said. "We are only three practices in, so it will kind of be a baptism by fire, but it will be a great learning experience for us."

A great experience indeed. The Great Falls Invite features all 13 Class A programs, as well as perennial Class A powerhouse Whitefish. The Havre tourney will feature Central A stalwart Lewistown, as well as Browning, and possibly golfers from Great Falls High and CMR.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge for us," Gilman said. "We are going to be playing two tough courses that are both 18 holes which is a little different for us. We are also going to be facing some of the best competition in the state. But it will be a good experience for us and give us a chance to grow. There will be a lot of good talent and we will see how we stack up against a higher level of competition."

Both tournaments Havre will play in will be a good learning experience for the Ponies, but many varsity players already have some experience to draw on.

The HHS boys return four Class A state qualifiers from a year ago, including juniors Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles. Both are two-time state qualifiers, and spent much of last season trading places as Havre's No. 1 golfer. And while Miller and Boles led a young Pony team a year ago, this year's version could be very exciting to watch.

The return of sophomores Kane Gabrielsen and Dustin Haas, as well as senior Wyatt Lindbloom, gives Gilman a varsity squad which is intact from last year. Haas and Gabrielsen were also state qualifiers a season ago, and spent the summer continuing to improve, while Lindbloom is Havre's most veteran golfer, and is on a mission this season to help the Ponies capture the Central A championship, and more.

But the Havre boys program doesn't stop with the top five, as the Ponies are also building plenty of depth. Trey Hanson and Aiden Passon are two more players who could crack the varsity lineup at any time this season, and overall, the Ponies have a roster full of young golfers, as boys golf has really risen in recent seasons.

"We have a lot of the same kids back on the varsity team that we have had the last couple of years, so we are expecting good things from our boys team," Gilman said.

Good things happened to Havre's girls team in 2013, but the Ponies graduated the likes of Nikki Gabrielsen, Boston Swenson and Katie Beck from last year's divisional championship team. So Gilman must rebuild around veteran golfers Randi Gabrielsen and Peyton Howard, both of whom are two-time Class A state qualifiers. Mackenzie Tilleman also has some golf experience, but beyond those three returnees, newcomers Grace Litzinger, Regan Lammers and Jordan Keith will have to help round out the Ponies' varsity lineup.

"Our girls team has a couple of girls back that qualified for state but they are going to be rebuilding a bit," Gilman noted.

Whether it's a deep boys roster, or a young girls roster, the Ponies will get plenty of chances to get better as the season goes. This week is a busy one for HHS, but so is the rest of August and the entire month of September. Havre will attend two different meets at Browning's East Glacier Lodge, one tournament in Lewistown, and wrap up the regular season with the Billings Central and Laurel Invitationals. The Ponies also have a second home date, Sept. 13, when they host the Havre Invitational at Beaver Creek Golf Course. And that schedule leads to the Central A Divisional, which is what Havre will be working toward all season long. The divisional tourney will be held at Bozeman's Riverside Country Club Sept. 26 and, in Bozeman, team and individual spots to the Class A state tournament, which is Oct. 3-4 in Hamilton, will be on the line.

"The boys will be among the favorites in the Central A and, I think, by the end the girls will be right in the running, too," Gilman said. "I am really looking forward to starting the season. I am excited. I think the boys and girls have a good chance to make some noise at divisionals. We have some good kids coming back, and I am just excited to get going and see where the season takes us."

Today's opening round of the Great Falls Invitational will be played at Meadowlark Country Club. The second round is set for Tuesday morning at Eagle Falls Golf Course. The Havre Golf Tournament will be played Thursday, starting at 9 a.m. at Prairie Farms Golf Course.