Glacier golf in command of Crosstown Cup match

The defending champions — Glacier Wolfpack — have a commanding 12-4 lead over Flathead after first-day action of the Crosstown Cup on Wednesday at Village Greens Golf Course.

It was a match play format for the first 18 holes with one point per match. There were 16 total matches.

“I actually thought it would be close this year,” Glacier coach Jim Schaible said.

“I have the trophy in the truck. I hope it stays in our school. That’s the idea, anyway.”

Cup play ends today with two-person, best-ball action at Buffalo Hill Golf Club. There will be eight matches — four boys and four girls.

This is the final outing of the regular season for both schools. Class AA state tournament play follows in Butte Sept. 27-28.

“Perseverance,” Schaible said of what the difference was today for his players.

“My instruction was to keep playing. You don’t know what the other person will do. They did just that. Some won with a double bogey on a hole. They just stayed with it. A couple girls did pretty good in scoring.”

One was Kate Trunkle. She had a 40.

“Which is 4-over (par),” Schaible said.

“A good score.”

Flathead’s top two girls — Marcella Mercer and Jillian Wynne — beat Trunkle and Hailey Iverson — in their matches, while Flathead’s Ezra Epperly and Joston Cripe halved with Keaton Cassidy and Will Salonen in the top two boys matches.

“The girls was close,” Flathead coach Kyle Dunfee said.

“It was 5-3, Glacier’s advantage. It came down to the No. 7 and 8 seeds.”

Glacier won both of those.

“Ham and egg it real well, play well to keep the match going,” Dunfee said of what his players must do today.

“For the boys, hit shots and make sure the short game on points.”