Ponies get off to a hot start on the course

Things couldn’t have gotten much better for the Havre High boys and girls golf teams on opening day of the 2014 season. But on the second day, they did just that.

After all six Blue Ponies posted outstanding scores at Monday’s opening round of the Great Falls Invitational at the Meadowlark Country Club, the Ponies continued to put up great scores on the second 18 holes, which were played Tuesday at Eagle Falls Golf Course.

The Havre boys continued to show great signs Tuesday at Eagle Falls, as sophomore Dustin Haas shot a career-best 78, while junior Jeff Miller did the same, firing a 79. Jerod Boles, who was Havre’s low man on Monday, finished Tuesday with a solid 81, while sophomore Kane Gabrielsen fired an 84, improving his Monday total by four strokes. Senior Wyatt Lindbloom also made up plenty of ground Tuesday as he shot 85 after shooting 92 Monday. Combined, Boles and Miller paced the Ponies, tying at 159 and in 33rd place. At 160, Haas finished in a tie for 41st place, while Gabrielsen came in at 173 and in 53rd place. Lindbloom, who is Havre’s lone senior golfer, finished at 177 and in 55th place individually.

Overall, the Havre boys finished 11th out of 14 teams, and all Class AA competition. The Ponies finished the two days of golf with a total team score of 651, and they brought their score down seven strokes during Tuesday’s round. The CMR boys finished in first place with a total of 600, beating Billings West by one stroke and Billings Senior by five.

Meanwhile, junior Randi Gabrielsen was Havre’s lone competitor on the girls side, and though she struggled a bit, shooting 100 Tuesday, she too put up a good two-day total of 189, after she shot an outstanding 89 at the difficult Meadowlark Country Club Monday afternoon. Gabrielsen finished the meet in an outstanding 23rd place.

While Havre didn’t compete for a team score in the girls tournament, the Great Falls High girls shot 715 to place first. Billings West was three strokes back in second place and Kalispell Glacier was third at 725.

The Havre High golf teams will now prepare to host Thursday’s Havre Golf Tournament at Prairie Farms Golf Course.

Great Falls Invitational

Monday at Meadow Lark Country Club

Tuesday at Eagle Falls Golf Course

BOYS

Team scores: CMR 299-301-600; Billings West-302-299-601; Billings Senior 301-304-605; Helena Capital 302-304-606; Kalispell Glacier 305-302-607; Bozeman 313-299-612; Great Falls 309-313-622; Butte 319-320-639; Helena 316-323-639; Billings Skyview 327-321-648; Havre 329-322-651; Missoula Sentinel 334-328-662; Missoula Hellgate 331-332-663; Kalispell Flathead 336-331-667.

Top 10 individuals: Easton Enott, CMR, 69-71-140; Joey Moore, West, 70-72-142; Cody Sherrill, Glacier, 73-70-143, Austin Walter, Senior, 68-76-144; Garrett Woodin, West, 75-69-144; Connor Brown, Bozeman, 75-69-144; Ryan Keenan, Flathead, 74-71-145; Sean Benson, Senior, 71-75-146; Scott Larson, Glacier, 71-75-146; Tevin Lewis, Capital, 71-75-146.

Havre Results: Boles, Jerod, 78-81-159, Miller, Jeff, 80-79-159, Haas, Dustin, 82-78-160, Gabrielsen, Kane, 89-84-173, Lindbloom, Wyatt, 92-85-177.

GIRLS

Team scores: Great Falls 349-366-715; Billings West 347-371-718; Kalispell Glacier 353-372-725; Bozeman 362-371-733; Missoula Hellgate 362-386-748; Billings Senior 372-380-752; Butte 376-376-752; Helena 376-391-767; CMR 367-433-800; Kalispell Flathead 387-418-805; Billings Skyview 407-404-811; Helena Capital 430-423-853; Missoula Sentinel 429-451-880.

Top 10 individual: Shealyn Hafer, Butte, 76-75-151; Teigan Avery, Glacier, 72-79-151; Hannah Zwemke, West, 78-81-159; Bridget Beyer, Bozeman, 77-82-159; Kortney McNeil, Senior, 81-81-162; Hayden Flohr, West, 78-87-165; Hailey Ogolin, Butte, 83-83-166; Maddie Trent, Hellgate, 80-87-167; Casey Babinecz, Great Falls, 84-87-171; Abigail Davidson, Great Falls, 85-87-172.

Havre Results: Gabrielsen, Randi, 89-100-189.

Havre High golfs at home Thursday

While the Havre High golf teams enjoyed a successful opening two days of the 2014 season, now the Blue Ponies will get a chance to enjoy their home course.

On Thursday, Havre will play host to the annual Havre Golf Tournament, which will be held at Prairie Farms Golf Course.

The Havre tourney will feature every Blue Pony, varsity or junior varsity, who has enough practices in, and will be one of two chances for the Ponies to play at home this season. HHS also hosts the Havre Invitational Sept. 13 at Beaver Creek Golf Course.

And after shooting good scores Monday-Tuesday in Great Falls, the Ponies will look to take advantage of playing at home. But the competition won't be easy. The tournament will features Havre's biggest rival in the Central A Conference, the Lewistown Golden Eagles, as well as fellow Central A member, the Browning Indians.

However, the Eagles and Indians won't be HHS's only compewtiion on Thursday. Players from Class A powers CMR and Great Falls High are also expected to compete, making the tournament another very compeititve one on Havre High's schedule.

The 2014 Havre Golf Tournament is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. Thursday morning with a shotgun start at Prairie Farms. The Havre JV's also travel to Lewistown next Tuesday and the Blue Pony varsity teams will compete at the Browning Invitational next Thursday at the East Glacier Lodge Golf Course.