All in the family: Ronan golf grows success on, off links
Carrie Pichler
Ronan High golf hosted a nine-team invitational April 15 at Mission Mountain Country Club.
Carrie Pichler
Both JT Probst and his sister, Jacey, are standing out as first-year golfers for Ronan High School.
Carrie Pichler
Jacey Probst’s 99 is low enough to earn a second-place finish as Ronan High School hosts nine teams at Mission Mountain Country Club.
Carrie Pichler
Ronan High golf hosted a nine-team invitational April 15 at Mission Mountain Country Club.
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The Chiefs and Maidens have hit the links in a big way with a team expansion that rivals 19th century settlers heading west, more than doubling the participants from last year’s team.
With 26 athletes — 11 on the girls’ team alone, which is almost unheard of in the class B/C golf world — second-year head coach Matt Olson couldn’t be more excited about the turnout.
“It’s been absolutely amazing,” he said. “That is an awesome number.”
With several first-year golfers picking up clubs for the team, it has been a great experience for Olson to watch the team grow on both competitive and personal levels. Olson boasts he “couldn’t have walked into the school and hand picked a better group of kids” and said, “the kids themselves are outstanding.”
Standing out are senior JT Probst and his sophomore sister, Jacey Probst. Both are first year golfers and both hold number-one spots on the team, according to Olson. Hard work is shining through with the brother-sister team as JT broke the under-90 club and Jacey broke 100 this season, finishing second for girls in last week’s invitational.
“The Probst family is having a ball,” Olson said. “They’re just great kids.”
Freshman Fisher Niemeyer is also making a mark, battling Probst for the number-one spot on the boys’ team.
“He’s just an outstanding kid,” Olson said.
Rounding out the boys and showing top dog consistency is Tanner Olson, qualifying for every tournament this season, and Chase Rhine, who Olson says “is really contributing to the team.”
For the girls, Olson sees great things coming out of returning senior Sophia Woodcock.
“She’s going to be a force,” he said, adding that Darian DeLaurenti and Lauren Hales are also showing promise on the course.
Hard work and practice is attributed to the success of the Ronan golf team. Olson said it’s something he doesn’t even have to enforce —the kids have been practicing together on their own time.
“Team is another word for family, and this team gets that,” Olson said.
Teaching the young golfers “it’s OK to do things in life and get nothing back in return,” Olson wants the kids to gain life experiences by giving back to the community. The team will be doing just that by volunteering at Mission Mart in Ronan to understand the importance of the community work force.
Olson says the team is “hungry for success” and sees the results are starting to show. He feels the kids have come a long way for such a young team, and he’s proud of their achievements.
“There is something special building out there,” he said. “I’m excited about their golf scores, but I’m more excited about who they are as people.”
Ronan golfers stepped up Tuesday, April 15 as they hosted nine teams at Mission Mountain Country ClubJT. The girls’ team sliced through their competition, taking first place with a score of 445. Individually, Maiden Jacey Probst finished second with 99, just behind Loyola golfer Sadie Crippen’s 85. Lauren Hales ended the day with 112 and Kendall Polk shot a 115. For the Chiefs, Chase Rhine finished in seventh place with 83.
The Ronan golf team hopes to continue growing success at the Plains Invitational April 26.
Results – Ronan Invitational
Boys
Team scores – Thompson Falls 335, Deer Lodge 336 tied with Loyola 336, Ronan 369, Seeley Swan 391, Superior 395, Eureka 408, Big Fork 421, Plains 429, St. Regis 489.
Top 10 – Jared Geer (Loy) 74, Tommy Tirrell (Loy) 75, Micah Nicholas (SS) 77, Derek Walker (DL) 78, Vinny Gallivan (TF) 80, Dalton Hooton (TF) 80, Chase Rhine (Ron) 83, Tristen Clark (DL) 83, Andrew Pierson (DL) 86, Bryan Swanson (Loy) 86.
Girls
Team scores – Ronan 445, Seeley Swan 474. (Team scores not given for Loyola, Big Fork, Thompson Falls and Plains)
Top 10 – Sadie Crippen (Loy) 85, Jacey Probst (Ron) 99, Maddie Lorang (BF) 104 tied with Jade Ledeaux (Pla) 104, Kallie Meagher (BF) 105, Kate Hood (SS) 110, Abby Croft (TF) 112 tied with Lauryn Hales (Ron) 112, Madison Purdy (Loy) 114, Kendall Polk (Ron) 116.
