Golf team takes three to State

Three Bigfork High School golfers, senior Sara Keenan, sophomore Dylan Carlson and freshman Lars Gittings, guaranteed their spots at state by placing in the top 15 at Monday’s divisionals tournament in Ronan.

For the girls, Keenan took third with a score of 82 and Carlson hit a 112 and took 12th. Gittings took eighth on the boys side with a score of 83. Junior Blake Weimer just missed the top 15 by one stroke with a score of 84.

“He deserves to be there because he’s played better all year long, but that’s the way golf is,” Bigfork’s golf coach Steve Hullet said. “He’ll make a good run at it next year.”

Weimer placed second in last Thursday’s tournament in Saint Regis with a score of 77 and ninth with a score of 87 at the Seeley-Swan invitational last Tuesday.

Gittings took first in Saint Regis with a score of 77 because he won the tiebreaker against Weimer. Gittings placed 10th at the Seeley-Swan tournament by hitting a 90.

“He’s been playing pretty steady this year,” Hullet said. “He’s a good boy with some talent and he wants to get better so he’ll work at it.”

As a freshman Gittings already has a chance at the state title, with three years of golfing for BHS left, his game holds a lot of promise.

Keenan is heading to State once again for Bigfork. Last year she took fifth and this year Hullet thinks she has a good shot at the top spot.

“She’s close,” Hullet said. “She’ll be in the running.”

Keenan took first in Saint Regis with a score of 85 and first in the Seeley tournament with a score of 83.

In her sophomore year Carlson has struggled a bit to make the top 10 in many tournaments, but she has steadily improved all year to take the 12th spot at divisionals and gain a shot at the state title.

“She’s just finding, coming into, her own. She’s got a lot of talent,” Hullet said. “‘Ed’(Carlson’s nickname) will be just fine.”

The state tournament runs Tuesday and Wednesday in Billings.