Mallams, McConnell take second in tourney
Bulldog golfers Joel Mallams and Kiley McConnell both had outstanding rounds at last week's Whitefish / Glacier Invitational Tournament, taking second place for the boys and the girls.
The tournament featured boys and girls teams from Sentinel, Hellgate, Big Sky, Capital, Helena, Flathead, Glacier and Whitefish high schools.
Mallams led the boys with a first-day round of one-under-par 70 on the Whitefish Lake Golf Course's South Course and followed up with second-day score of 74 at Big Mountain Club Course. McConnell fired rounds of 92-83 as she finished just two shots out of first place.
Hellgate's Colin Gun-strean captured the medallist honor for the two-day tournament with 70-70 for a three-under-par total.
The Whitefish boys held the lead after the first day with a team score of 307 but eventually fell to Glacier on day two on their home course of Big Mountain Club.
Reed Platke had a good tournament, finishing in a tie for fourth, with rounds of 73-77. Zach Maassen was third for the Bulldog boys with rounds of 81-79, which was just out of the top-10 for the two days.
Carl Talsma had a two-day total of 165, followed by Dylan Parr at 169. The boy's team total of 619 for the two-day tournament was six shots off the winning pace of the Glacier boys.
Joe Blakemore, playing JV this week, fired a 79 at Big Mountain, with Tyler Schiff at 81 and Cole Havens at 85.
"The boys are playing pretty good golf, but still need to find one more gear as a team to drop down to around 300 each day," coach Nelson said. "For Joel Mallams to tie Glacier's number one player, Graham Schmaltz, is a good showing."
McConnell had one of her best days at Big Mountain Club when she posted an 83 after a shaky start.
"It's the sign of a mature player when one overcomes a bad start and holds it together for a good round," Nelson said. "Kiley has the game to be one of the top players in the state."
Danielle McCully improved her score the second day with a 96 following her 99 at Whitefish.
"Danielle is very close to finding her game and posting some lower scores in the 80s," Nelson said.
Tayler Johnson was third for the girls with rounds of 110-107. Klaire Taylor improved nicely, going from 124 to 109 on the second day. Emma Dowaliby posted 118 each day, but she is continuing to lower her scores at each tournament.
"The girls finished the tournament against the Class AA schools in fifth place, but they definitely can play better," Nelson said. "For the girls to be competitive, they have to have a couple of scores in the 80s and two in the 90s. This next week, we're going to spend more time playing golf and learning to manage our games and score on the course."
On Sept. 8, the junior varsity boys competed in Columbia Falls and took second to a much improved Wildcat varsity squad. Blakemore won the tournament at Meadow Lake with an impressive 77. He hit the first 17 greens in regulation before missing number 18 on his way to medallist honors.
"Joe had some putting troubles with five three-putts during his round, but he had a great day of ball striking," Nelson said.
Alex Feuhrer had the second-best score for the JV team with a 92. Havens, Schiff and Tyler Brown also played for the JV.
"Meadow Lake is a visually intimidating course, but is not exceptionally long by today's standards," Nelson said.