Havre golfers up to the challenges in Glendive, Sidney

By Havre Daily News Staff

The Havre High golf teams are entering the home stretch of the 2020 season. And this past week, the Blue ponies played in two of their biggest tournaments yet.

Thursday, Havre traveled to Glendive for the Glendive Invitational, while the Ponies also played in the full-field Sidney Invite on Friday.

And while HHS head coach George Ferguson said both courses were challenging, he thought his teams did very well.

“I am excited about how these two tournaments went,” Ferguson said. “Both courses were very tough. Both events also featured the most teams we’ve seen this year. And on top of that, we had very good finishes even though I think our kids would say they didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked. So all those things made for a very good weekend for our kids, and I’m proud of what they did.”

Starting in Glendive, the Havre boys finished second to Lewistown with a team score of 363. Seniors Josh Warp and Caleb Chambliss led the way for the Ponies. Warp finished in sixth place with an 88, while Chambliss finished seventh with an 89. Kale Reno and Caleb Spangler each posted Top 10 finishes as well with round of 93, while Theron Peterson shot 95.

On the girls side, Havre finished second with a 453, as only Sidney was better. Senior Jocelyn Staples fired a 98 to finish in third overall, while Sophie Kirkpatrick was seventh with a 114. Carlee Kato and Katharine Greenwood each shot 119 to round out the scoring.

“Glendive was tough,” Ferguson said. “No one had seen the course before, plus it was a long bus trip. And you know, the kids battled. They fought through it, and finished pretty strong. I was pleased.”

Havre moved on to Sidney Friday morning, where nearly the entire Eastern A was gathered. Including powerhouses from Laurel and Billings Central. And with the Sidney track playing tough, Havre once again battled.

Havre finished at 356 to take third, including beating rival Lewistown. Reno and Chambliss each shot 88 to finish tied 10th, while Spangler shot 89, Peterson 91 and Warp 92. The Pony girls also took third with a 442 team score. Staples was tops again with a 99, which put her in eighth place. Kirkpatrick was next for Havre with a 112, while Kato shot 115, Greenwood 116 and Sylvie McKeon-Hanson 117.

“Sidney was again a big challenge for our teams,” Ferguson said. “And it was up-and-down. Our boys came back and beat Lewistown, even though all our guys were a little higher than their average scores. So that’s actually a real good sign, that we’re still up there among the top teams in our division, even when maybe we aren’t playing our best, or when the courses get tougher. I think our boys are showing they’re contenders and they know that can play even better. I thought our girls showed a lot of improvement, too. Jocelyn is playing really consistent golf, but everybody got better the second day, and our girls can keep building off that.

“So it was a good trip,” Ferguson added. “It was a tough trip with two tough courses, and that’s going to help our kids as we get closer to divisionals.”

Havre will be right back on the road with the Billings Central Invite Thursday and the Laurel Invite Friday.