BHS golf teams swing into action
Bigfork High School's golf team is adjusting to its new time slot – spring, and Steve Hullett, the team's head coach, believes it is a change for the better.
"I'm happy that golf season is back in the spring," Hullett said. "That way the kids start in the bad weather and it gets better as we go along. The chances of getting snowed out at the state tournament are a lot slimmer than the other way around."
Hullett has also pointed out that not only does the weather get increasingly better for the kids when they play in the spring, but the course gets continually better as well.
In Class A, the teams start by playing courses that have greens that have been thriving all summer, and, by the time the big tournaments arrive in the fall, the courses have deteriorated due to the weather.
Last year the boys team placed second at the Northwest A Divisional Tournament and eight, at state.
However, this year they face new teams and new courses as a result of Bigfork's switch to Class B.
Competing for the boys this year are juniors Steven Schuster, Kyle Parker and Ronnie Grenier, sophomores Curtis Jochen and Dillon Fraley and freshman Blake Weimer.
Schuster and Parker are the only returners to the team who played in competition last year.
Parker placed 14th at the Class A State Tournament last year. Jochen was on the team last year, but did not qualify for tournament play.
The team picked up Fraley with the switch from fall to spring. Fraley, who has experience golfing and working at Eagle Bend Golf Club, plays football in the fall.
"If Parker and Schuster do what they are capable of and if Blake and Ronnie come around, I think we have a chance at it," Hullett said of the season.
The girls team consists of just two athletes – Sara Keenan and Aly Losleban.
As a freshman, Keenan placed 16th at last year's state tournament, and as the highest placing girl from Bigfork, led the girls team to helped the girls earn eighth place. Aly Losleban is new to the sport and will be working on the fundamentals of the game before competing in tournaments.
The Bigfork girls will be able to compete at tournaments as individuals, but they will not be scored as a team because the rules require there to be at least four athletes from a school to count as a team.
"It's rare for us to not have a girls team," Hullett said. "I graduated three girls that had been here for four years. I just don't have the replacements."
Hullett also said that if there are any girls still interested in playing golf this year that they can still join the team.
Adjusting to the new way
In Class B there are 36 schools that make-up 35 teams which are divided into three divisions. Bigfork is playing in Division 3 with Townsend, Eureka (which only has a boys program), Loyola Sacred Heart from Missoula, Manhattan, Manhattan Christian, Plains, Deer Lodge, Superior, Big Timber, Thompson Falls and Three Forks.
The divisional tournament will be held May 10 at Canyon River Golf Course in Missoula. The top four teams from divisionals will qualify for the state tournament, which will be hosted by Huntely Project on May 18 and 19. The boys will play at Prior Creek Golf Course and the girls will play at Eagle Rock Golf Course.
In addition to the top four teams, the top 15 individuals from the tournament will also qualify for state.
Hullett coached Bigfork's golf team when the school was in Class B previously, but the golf programs at the other school have changed over the years, so comparing Bigfork to those teams is tough. However, Hullett said there is one school he is keeping his eye on.
"Conrad looks like they have a pretty good team, but other than that I'm not real sure," Hullett said of Bigfork's new competition. "I know we can do a lot better than we did in our first tournament in Shelby. I'm not sure that there are a lot of strong teams in this side of the state besides Conrad."
The switch to Class B may have put the football team playing on some fields that weren't as nice as Class A school's and the basketball team traveled to gyms that weren't up to the standards they were used to, but Hullett said he doesn't expect the golf team to have that problem when they travel to tournaments. The tournament they played in Shelby was at Marias Valley Golf Club, which according to Hullett, is known as one of the nicest courses in the state.
Although it will be good for the kids to experience new courses, Hullett is a little disappointed that his team won't be playing the courses in Polson, Ronan, Libby, Whitefish and Columbia Falls like they used to.
"I wish we still played those courses, but I'm glad we're not playing the fall and that we are not in Class A anymore," Hullett said. "It's a smart move going back to Class B. The kids have a chance to compete."
The Vikings and Valkyries host the Bigfork Invitational Tournament at Eagle Bend Golf Club at 10 a.m. on April 15.