Lady 'Dogs tee off season with big win

The Lady Bulldogs golf squad opened the season Monday with a 37-shot victory at the Anaconda Invitational at Old Works golf course.

Kiley McConnell led the way with an impressive round of 79 that was nine strokes better than second-place finisher Teryn Green of Anaconda.

"Kiley had her best high school tournament score ever," Whitefish coach Terry Nelson said.

The team's overall score of 360 was right on target with what the coach hoped they would post.

"That was our goal, so I'm pleasantly surprised with their results," Nelson said.

Danielle McCully was third with a 91 and Klaire Taylor tied for fourth with a 93.

On the boys side, the story of the tourney came after the final scores were tallied.

Whitefish freshman Arthur Doorn called a scorecard disqualification on himself in a move that showed a level of maturity not seen in many players his age.

It impressed Nelson immensely.

"Arthur signed and turned in his card and told me he shot a 76," Nelson explained. "But the scoreboard said he shot a 74. Arthur said right away, 'That's not right. I shot a 76.'"

The freshman golfer was disqualified for signing a scorecard with an error.

"He did it just like he should have," Nelson said about pointing out the scoring mistake. "That says a lot about his character. We are really proud of him."

Besides, Nelson said, a 76 was a great round of golf.

With the DQ, the Bulldogs ended up taking third place overall with a 350. They would have finished in second place and one shot off the lead with Doorn's score.

Reed Platke led the team with a second-place round of 74. Camp Kenyon scored an 89 and Kyler Blades finished with a tough 92 after a few rough holes.

"For most of these boys, it was their first tournament," Nelson said. "It was a real good experience for us."

Team scores

1, Hamilton 316. 2, Belgrade 331. 3, Whitefish 350. 4, Dillon 369. 5, Butte Central 372. 6, Butte High 374. 7, Anaconda 379. 8, Park 383. 9, Stevensville 397. 10, Ronan 435. 11, Frenchtown 445.

Top 5

1, Brad Palin, Hamilton, 73. 2, Reed Platke, Whitefish, 74. 3, Zach Stowell, Belgrade, 76. 4, Tyler Ferguson, Belgrade, 78. 5, Tyler Jessop, Hamilton, 79.

HAMILTON (316) — Brad Palin 73, Tyler Jessop 79, Eli Rogers 82, Kyle Lubke 82, Graham Silcher 99.

BELGRADE (331) — Zach Stowell 76, Tyler Ferguson 78, Austin Stowell 82, Dylan Jones 95, Zack Klonsinski 98.

WHITEFISH (350) — Reed Platke 74, Camp Kenyon 89, Kyler Blades 92, Kyle Barrons 95, Arthur Doorn DQ.

DILLON (369) — Brett Creger 89, Dillon Womack 90, Travis Lake 94, Tyler Love 96, Marcus Osborne 97.

BUTTE CENTRAL (372) ?— Ed Lally 90, Harley Davidson 93, Jake Kenison 93, Cole Noctor 96, Derek Ralph 97.

BUTTE HIGH (374) — Zak Harney 86, Connor Ori 93, Marcus Yerkich 97, Tyler Myers 98, Jeff Preston 111.

ANACONDA (379) — Anthony Wood 81, Jackson Wagner 96, Jarod Arneson 98, Geoff Dierenfeldt 104, Jade Green 113.

PARK (383) — Decker Willson 82, Cleo Allen-Toll 86, Scott Wilson 105, Brandon Coon 110, Preston Coon 111.

STEVENSVILLE (397) — Milan Plachy 93, Blake Servos 93, Nigel McCullum 104, Clayton Rea 107, Corbin Disney 126.

RONAN (435) — Riley Dennis 80, Alex Killian 108, Payton Adams 116, Collin Hardy 131, John Romero 142.

FRENCHTOWN (445) — Chris Merritt 103, Troy Wolff 112, Derek Jones 112, Andrew Leiter 118.

POLSON (NS) — Hayden Congdon 82, Dakotah Jenson 90, Logan Howell 101.

Girls

Team scores

1, Whitefish 360. 2, Park 397. 3, Anaconda 398. 4, Polson 421. 5, Frenchtown 465. 6, Dillon 486. 7, Butte High 498.

Top 5

1, Kiley McConnell, Whitefish, 79. 2, Teryn Green, Anaconda, 88. 3, Danielle McCully, Whitefish, 91. 4 (tie), Klaire Taylor, Whitefish; Sarah Boyer, Park, 93.

WHITEFISH (360) — Kiley McConnell 79, Danielle McCully 91, Klaire Taylor 93, Erin Tabish 97, Emma Dowaliby 117.

PARK (397) — Sarah Boyer 93, Emily Buckner 98, Christal Tokash 100, Michaela Amanrud 106.

ANACONDA (398) — Teryn Green 88, Alexandra Huber 95, Dusti Voeller 104, McKenah Blume 111, Reema Najjar 116.

POLSON (421) — Amy Williamson 99, Anna DiGiallonardo 100, Jaylin Kenney 108, Kat Medland 114, Saquoia Begrow 123.

FRENCHTOWN (465) — Brittnee Richardson 97, Madison Blass 108, Darby McNally 123, Mary Brooks 137, Ashley Munoz 138.

DILLON (486) — Kassade Lemhouse 108, Kristen Cottom 115, Kelsey Peterson 128, Taylor Nelson 135.

BUTTE HIGH (498) — Amber Hanley 105, Kelcie Casidy 121, Shelby Urich 124, Tori Bernhardt 148.

RONAN (NS) — Alex Dulmes 101, Payge Delaurante 134.

HAMILTON (NS) — Alyssa Heath 128, Emily Winter 131, Meg MacLean 139.