There's no stopping the Bulldog golfers this year, as evidenced by another title sweep for the girls and boys earlier this week at the Butte Invitational.
Sam Kaufman / For the Pilot<br>Robin Cross puts it up onto the green at Eagle Bend during the Bigfork Invitational last week.
Golfers are unstoppable
Derek Denning picked up his first medalist honor of the season. He shot 77-72 to edge teammate Tyler Holtet at 75-76. Matt Krause tied for fourth and spencer Hughes took sixth with four other golfers. The Whitefish boys totaled 606 to finish 19 shots ahead of Helena at 625.
Whitefish girls totaled 730, 16 shots better than runner-up Helena High. Maresa Jenson had a great tournament, with 83-84 to finish fourth. Alex Micklewright was fifth and Chelsea Ray was eighth.
As reported in last week's Pilot, the boys and girls both won the Helena Invitational golf tournament last week. The field included 8 Class AA schools and 3 other Class A schools. The girls posted a 13-stroke come from behind victory over host Helena High with Flathead High a distant third. The boys increased their first day two-shot lead to win by 18 shots over Missoula Sentinel High School. Havre High finished 41 strokes behind the Bulldogs.
Junior Matt Krause took medalist honors with a one-shot lead over sophomore Derek Denning and two strokes lower than Whitefish's lone senior player Spencer Hughes. Tyler Holtet and Karl Dieterich finished with rounds of 80-74 and 81-76 respectively. Matt Krause fired 76 at the Bill Roberts course and followed with a one over 73 at Green Meadow Country Club. Spencer Hughes led after day one with an even par 72 at Bill Roberts G.C. Denning shot a 73-77 for the two-day tournament. Holtet birdied the last three holes in succession to record his 74 at Green Meadow on greens that were difficult to putt. The boys shot a four-player total of 300 each day in route to their victory. "It was interesting to note the depth of the boys team as they all take turns winning at different locations," added coach Terry Nelson.
On the girls side, Maresa Jenson fired 82-88 to finish in third place behind Darah Newell of Helena and Tess Stevenson of Flathead High. Alex Micklewright combined an 85 at Green Meadow C.C. with her 88 on the first day at Bill Roberts G.C.
"Alex had a great ball-striking day and had the greens not been recently aerified she could have gone considerably lower," according to Nelson.
Chelsea Ray recorded an 88 on day one and Porsche Erekson matched that with an 88 of her own on day two.
"The girls continue to improve their team score and getting close to the target score of less than 350 for each day", Nelson said. "More focused practice on their short games may help reach the level the girls will need at state. You win tournaments based on the scores of the number three, four and five players."
Mary McFadden helped the girls this past weekend at Helena as she continues to improve each week.
"Mary is really working on her game and becoming a good ball striker," Nelson added.
The second team played in the Bigfork Invitational last Thursday with the boys getting another win under their belts.
"Freshman Sam Krause once again was medalist with a really impressive round of 73 under tough conditions as wind and rain raised the bar," stated Nelson.
Krause knocked in birdies on his last two holes to breeze to a four-shot victory over Libby's Rory Hendrickson. Chris Conners tied for sixth with a good round of 82 over the Eagle Bend Championship course. Zac Wooten was steady and posted an 85 to tie for eighth in the field of Western and Southwest Conference teams. Ben Hilleboe finished at 90 with Andre Groschupf at 93. Hillary Johann had a season best 115.
"Robin Cross continues to get better each outing and with more time to work on her putting she will challenge the other girls for the top team spots," noted Nelson. "Kelly Curtis competed in her very first tournament at Eagle Bend and played real well."
This week the teams will be in Butte / Anaconda on Monday and Tuesday and Polson on Thursday. The Butte/Anaconda invitational will be played at the Butte C.C. and Old Works courses. All of the Class AA schools plus several Southwestern Class A schools are expected to participate.