Golfers open at Flatfish, Polson

The Columbia Falls High School golf teams opened tournament action last week at the Flatfish Invitational on Aug. 29-30 followed on Sept. 1 by the Polson Invitational.

On the first day of the Flatfish Invitational at Indian Springs, in Eureka, Wildcat senior Parker Johnson shot a solid 82 followed by senior Brian Marcille at 108 and freshman Henry Chisolm at 119.

Meanwhile at the Whitefish South Course, Wildkat junior McKenna Emmerich posted an impressive 113, followed by junior Morgan Love (117), junior Maggie Panasuk (128), freshman Rachel Hagen (135) and freshman Mackenzie Dereu (139).

On day two, the boys moved to Whitefish with Johnson (81), Marcille (96) and Chisholm (120), joined by Wildcat seniors Ronny Gallegos (111) and Coby Hutchens (124). The Wildcat team score of 408 landed them in 13th place for the day in the 16 team tournament.

The girls moved to the Big Mountain Golf Course, where the Wildkats showed improvement on their first-day scores, with Emmerich (111), Love (113), Panasuk (123), Dereu (133) and Hagen (134). As a team, the Kats finished in ninth place.

Five teams from the Northwest A Conference competed in the Polson Invitational, which served as a preview for the divisional tournament that will be played at Polson on Sept. 22.

For the boys, Johnson fired a 77 to finish in third place, while Marcille's 94 secured him a spot in the top-10. Gallegos and Chisolm both showed strong improvement with 106 and 108 respectively. Hutchens shot 116. The Cats' team score of 385 landed them in fourth place, while Whitefish took the team title with 315.

On the girls' side of the tournament, junior Panasuk shot a strong 107 followed by Dereu (121), Love (124) and Emmerich (128). The Kats' 480 placed them in third place, with the Lady Pirates of Polson winning at 375.

Tournament play continues for the Columbia Falls golfers as hosts at Meadow Lake on Sept. 6, West Glacier on Sept. 13 and the Libby Invitational on Sept. 16.