Eyes on the prize
Polson golfers earn trip to state with strong performance Saturday
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RONAN — Polson will be sending two teams to the state golf tournament in Laurel this weekend after both the Pirates and Lady Pirates finished second at the divisional tournament at Mission Mountain Golf Course Saturday.
“It went pretty much as I was speculating,” Polson head coach Bill Owen said. “It’s always nice when the scenario you were hoping for works out that way.”
Cody Fischer led the way for the Pirates with a 79, good enough to earn him a third-place individual finish while the Polson boys finished second as a team with a combined score of 342.
On a course that played more like two separate courses with one half of the greens punched, Fischer seems to have a much better day on the punched greens.
“Cody seemed to do much better on the punched hole side of the course, I’m not really sure why that is. He did wind up with a great result though,” Owen said. “Many of our players had better games on the punched side of the course. Is there an explanation for that? I don’t really have one.”
The Pirates ended the day with all four of their golfers in the top 15, meaning that each player qualified for state not only with their combined team score, but also as individuals.
Hayden Congdon had the second-best finish for the Pirates Saturday, shooting an 83 to finish eighth. Dakotah Jenson finished with an 85 to come in 10th and Austin Von Tom was 15th after finishing the day with a 95.
The Lady Pirates will also be making the trip to Laurel for the state golf tournament after finishing second as a team Saturday with a combined score of 399.
Amy Williamson lived up to her position as the Lady Pirates’ number one golfer, finishing third in the individual standings after shooting a 90 for the day.
“Amy is capable of pushing those two Whitefish girls that finished ahead of her,” Owen said. “She should figure somewhere into the top 10 picture at state this weekend.”
Katharina Medland was the Lady Pirates second-best golfer on the day, finishing fifth after shooting a 100. Jaylin Kenney finished sixth with a 103 while the Lady Pirates’ number two golfer, Anna DiGiallonardo, had an off day, finishing 10th with a 106. Makaliah Wilson shot a 107 to finish 11th individual.
“Anna said she had trouble with her driver Saturday,” Owen said. “She had some trouble with a few of her tee shots ending up out of bounds.”
Both teams will be hard at work this week preparing for the state tournament, attempting to fix weaknesses while working on all aspects of the game.
“This week, we will be putting in a lot of time working on our short game as well as working on the individual needs of our players in order to get ready for state,” Owen said. “We will also be putting in a lot of time every day just working on all parts of the game.”
The state tournament gets underway Friday morning at the Laurel Golf Course and continues Saturday.
“What will we do at state this weekend? That is a big question mark,” Owen said. “I think the girls have a chance to squeeze in there and get a trophy and I think a top 10 finish for the boys would be outstanding. Individually, though, I think many of our players have a chance to crack the top 10.”
