Pony golf teams wrap up the regular season

One week is all that stands between the Havre High boys and girls golf teams and the Central A Divisional tournament. But it's certainly a busy and challenging week for the Blue Ponies.

Havre will play two 18-hole tournaments this week in the Billings area, starting with Thursday's Billings Central Invitational. The Ponies will also play at the Laurel Invite Friday.

Both tournaments should help Havre prepare for the Central A meet, which will be held next week in Bozeman, and the Class A state meet, which is now just two weeks away.

The competition will be strong at both tournaments the Ponies play at this week. In Billings, HHS will compete against players from Billings Central, as well as junior varsity golfers from the Billings AA schools. Laurel will also be in attendance, as well as possibly Lewistown and Livingston. So the field should be a good one at the tourney, which will be played at the wide-open Eagle Rock Golf Club. The course is a challenging one and should give the Ponies a stern test.

Things will get even more difficult Friday when Havre attends the Laurel Invite. The Laurel Country Club is one of the top golf courses in eastern Montana, and it will test even the most seasoned player. The field in Laurel will be much the same as it is in Billings, with the Rams and Locomotives, as well as Eastern A challengers Miles City, Glendive, Sidney and Hardin.

And both tournaments should give Havre a good idea of where it is heading into the postseason, especially the HHS boys, who have aspirations of a Central A title and a strong showing at the Class A state tournament. The Pony boys' lineup is set with juniors Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles, sophomores Dustin Haas and Kane Gabrielsen and senior Wyatt Lindbloom.

The Havre girls don't have a lot of experience at venues like they'll play this week, but junior Randi Gabrielsen is certainly battle-tested. After Gabrielsen, the HHS lineup consists of Graze Litzinger, MacKenzie Tilleman, Regan Lammers and Jordan Keith.

This week is perhaps one of the most challenging weeks of the season for the Ponies, who are coming off a strong showing at last Saturday's Havre Invitational at Beaver Creek Golf Course. But, even though the courses are tough, and even though Havre is already playing pretty well, second-year head coach Brett Gilman would like to see scores get even better this week.

"Going into this last stretch before divisionals and state, I would like to see everyone start to shore things up and start playing some better golf," Gilman said. "So when we go to divisionals and state we can make some noise."

Havre plays at the Billings Central Invite Thursday morning at Eagle Rock Golf Club. Friday morning, the Ponies will tee off at the Laurel Invite at the Laurel Country Club. The Central A Divisional tournament is set for Sept. 27 in Bozeman.