Ponies tee it up at home

Monday kicked off a special day for four Havre High golfers. For the first time in 10 months, the Blue Ponies got to compete at a high school golf tournament.

Havre head coach Brett Gilman took his four varsity girls to the season-opening Great Falls Invitational Monday and Tuesday, a tournament comprised of the entire Class AA, as well as Havre. Considering the Blue Pony boys are all newcomers, Gilman elected to not take the boys to the always-difficult Great Falls tourney, which was played on the famed Meadowlark Country Club Monday and Anaconda Hills Tuesday.

Monday's 18 holes for the Blue Ponies saw Regan Lammers shoot a 107 for the lowest score of the day. Teagan Fee and Grace Litzinger each shot 114, while Kinzee Peterson came in at 119. The action shifted to Anaconda Hills Tuesday, where Litzinger posted a 110. Peterson shot 114 and Lammers came in at 117. Fee, unfortunately had to withdraw with an illness.

While only the Havre High varsity girls played in the season-opening Great Falls Invitational earlier this week, every Blue Pony on the golf roster will get a crack at the second tournament on Havre's schedule.

And, it's a home meet, too.

The Blue Ponies will host the annual Havre Invitational Thursday at Prairie Farms Golf Course. For many HHS players, it will officially kick off their season - and for the HHS boys, their golfing careers.

Blue Pony head coach Brett Gilman didn't return a single boy from last year's team, so everybody playing in Thursday's 18-hole tourney at Prairie Farms will be playing their first round of competitive golf.

"There's a lot of potential with those kids," Gilman said of the boys. "So it will be fun to teach them and watch them grow over the course of this season. It will take time for them to learn the game and learn how to play high school golf, so we're just going to get them as many rounds as possible this season, and see how far they can take it."

Playing in their first tourney of the year for Havre are freshmen Joram Randolph, Trennis Riley, Nolan Lotton, Clint Owens, Caleb Chambliss, Josh Warp and Colby Tilleman as well as sophomore Tyrel Kjserem.

The Havre girls' lineup will remain the same as it was in Great Falls, but newcomers Jocelyn Staples and Makayla Lindbloom will also make their Blue Pony golf debuts Thursday.

As for the tourney itself, the field will be strong, especially with the addition of Laurel. The Locomotives of the Eastern A, always produce good golf teams, with the Laurel boys finishing third at last year's Class A state tournament in Hamilton. Last year, Billings Central, another golfing power in Class A, was also added to the Havre Invite field.

Of course, the tournament will also feature two of Havre's longtime Central A rivals in Lewistown and Browning. The Lewistown girls are expected to be one of the top teams, not just in the Central A, but in all of Class A this season. The Eagles are led by Kinsey Irvin, who was the Class A runner-up a season ago. Thursday's tournament will also likely feature players from Class AA Great Falls High and CMR as well.

The Havre Invite is also part of a busy opening stretch for the Blue Ponies. They started Monday and Tuesday in Great Falls, play Thursday at Prairie Farms, then head to the Belgrade Invitational Monday in Bozeman.

But for now, the focus is on Havre's lone varsity home meet of the season. The Ponies will host a junior varsity invitational in September at Beaver Creek Golf Course, but Thursday is Havre's Invitational, which means, it's a special day for all of the Blue Pony golfers - especially Havre's senior girls, who will be playing at home for the final time.

The Havre Invitational will begin with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. at Prairie Farms Golf Course. Havre heads to Bozeman Monday.