Bulldog golfers take fifth at Great Falls

The Bulldog boys and girls golf teams traveled to Great Falls for their first tournament of the 2009 season, the CMR and Great Falls High Invitational tournament.

All of the Class AA schools plus the 'Dogs and Havre Blue Ponies competed in the two-day tourney, which was played at Meadow Lark Country Club and Eagle Falls Golf Club.

"The weather was unquestionably the best ever for the two-day event since I have been there in the last 25 years," Bulldog coach Nelson said. "Conditions could not have been better, with little to no wind and excellent golf course playability."

The Whitefish boys team started the first day with Zach Maassen leading the way with 77 at Meadow Lark. Both Joel Mallams and Reed Platke recorded scores of 79 and were followed by Joe Blakemore and Dylan Parr at 88 and 89 respectively.

The team score on day one of 323 was good enough to be in 10th spot for the boys, but they trailed leader Billings West by nearly 25 shots. On day two, with some varsity experience under their belts, Blakemore and Parr bounced back with scores of 76-77 to go along with team leader Platke's 74 at Eagle Falls.

Mallams and Maassen contributed scores of 80 and 84, respectively. Using the best four scores, the team fired a very respectable 307 to move all the way up to fifth place in the team rankings. Platke climbed to the top-10 with his second day excellent score of 74, which was only two-over-par.

"The coaching staff was very proud of the boys' performance at Great Falls and expect this crew to continue to post lower scores as they move through the season," Nelson said.

Billings West went on to win the tournament by a resounding score of 582, a record for this tournament. Jake Hedge, of Billings West, shot a remarkable two-day score of 68 and 64, which Nelson said could be a record for two-day events in Montana golf history.

The Lady Bulldogs managed to finish in 12th place in a field of 16 teams. Kiley McConnell paced the girls team with rounds of 88-92 and was near the top-10 for all girls. Danielle McCully was second for the girls but had an off-day at Eagle Falls when she experienced a balky putter.

"The very undulated and fast greens presented a significant challenge for all the players on day two," Nelson said. "We'll be working hard on our short games in preparation for our next outing."

Taylor Johnson, Klaire Taylor and Emma Dowaliby all played in their first-ever varsity tournament and did quite well. All three girls improved their score on the second day, with Johnson shooting a 45 on the back nine at Eagle Falls.

"This group of girls should be able to compete fairly well in our division again this season," Nelson said.

Senior BreAnna Cameron, last year's second-place finisher at state, continues to work hard on her short game as her knee improves from an ACL replacement in June. If Cameron is able to return to full play before the season ends, she'll help the girls team advance to the state tournament and perhaps capture another trophy for Whitefish, Nelson said.

Foreign exchange student Maria Reis is learning the game this fall as well. A young batch of Lady Bulldogs is working on their games diligently and should help the future teams very much.

"Danielle Adams and Jayde Eason are working as hard as any group of freshman players we've ever had since I've been the coach," Nelson said. "For the boys, Dakota Adams shows that same determination with his hard work, too."

The boys team captured first place in the Browning Invitational at East Glacier in a field including Browning, Lewiston, Havre and Whitefish.

Tyler Shiff and Carl Talsma led the boys team with 83 and 84 respectively over the beautiful and fairly difficult East Glacier Course. Cole Havens posted a good score of 87, followed by Tyler Brown and Alex Fuehrer at 88 and 90.

"This is a strong group of players who'll all be fighting for varsity positions throughout the season," Nelson said. "Freshmen Kyle Barron and Iaian Cameron and sophomore Max Lamb will push these guys for team positions this season as well. Cameron, like his sister, is recovering from a knee injury this fall."

Ryan Zalucky, an All State player in 2008, has decided to play football and golf this fall for the Bulldogs. Zalucky has remarkable ball-striking ability and can record some low scores once he has time to focus more on his golf game this fall.