Two Bigfork golfers finish in top 15

Bigfork brought home two out of three students in top 15 spots from the State B golf tournament in Billings last week.

Senior Sara Keenan hit an 85 on Tuesday and an 80 on Wednesday for seventh place on the girls side. Dylan Carlson hit a 121-122. On the boys side, freshman Lars Gittings brought home an 84 on Tuesday and a 77 on Wednesday to tie for 11th place with Alex Carlson of Loyola.

Bigfork High School golf coach Steve Hullet said the tournament went about how he expected, but the condition of the greens gave his players a rough time. Some were short, some were shaggy and some were both on the same hole, Hullet said.

“She (Keenan) just had a rough time putting, the greens weren’t consistent at all, you couldn’t adjust to the speeds very well,” Hullet said. “Lars struggled a little bit with his putting the first two days and he finally got it figured out the last day.”

Bigfork drove down to Billings on Sunday and hit a practice round on Monday before the start of the tournament. By Wednesday, both Keenan and Gittings were able to adjust their putting play to each hole.

Even with the difficult putting, he said his players played well and Hullet is looking toward a solid season next year. He thinks the boys will have a good shot at state next year between Gittings and Blake Weimer, who will be a senior next year.

As a freshman Gittings has achieved 11th in the state, has a summer of practice ahead of him, and three more years on the team.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” Hullet said. “He can’t get enough golf.”

Weimer played a solid season for Bigfork this year and just missed going to the state tournament by one stroke. Hullet thinks next year will be Weimer’s year.

“I was dissapointed for Blake, but we’ve got next year, and we should be in the thick of things for a trophy for the boys next year,” Hullet said.

And next year Bigfork hosts the State B tournament at the Eagle Bend Golf Course.

“It will be nice not to drive 500 miles for a state tournament next year,” Hullet said. “The kids will be in their own beds.”