Whitefish boys golf forces playoff with Glacier, girls take third at Flathead Invite
Whitefish's Johnny Nix chips his approach shot out of the rough and onto the green on the 12th hole at Northern Pines Golf Club during the Kalispell Invite on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The two-day Kalispell Invitational needed a playoff hole to determine the final team standings for the boys as Glacier and Whitefish both finished the tournament on top with a score of 627.
On the extra hole, Glacier had two golfers birdie to edge Whitefish on the second day of the tournament at Buffalo Hill Golf Course; the first day began on Wednesday at Northern Pines.
Whitefish junior standout Billy Smith was on the top of the leaderboard in the individual results on both days, leading a three-way tie with a 73 for the top position after the first 18 holes. He followed up his performance with a strong second day, scoring a 79, to stay at the top but was defeated in a playoff hole. He took third overall behind Sentinel’s Joe Opitz and Glacier’s Tyler Avery.
"Billy could have easily walked away with the individual title of the Kalispell Invite, but Joe Opitz from Missoula Sentinel holed out from 50 or so yards for eagle," Whitefish golf coach Tait Rocksund said. "That was a big moment, there was a crowd, it was a lot of fun."
"Unfortunately, we lost in the five v. five playoff on hole 18 at Buffalo Hill, but it was an excellent experience to get us ready for any playoffs in the future; I think we learned a lot in that playoff as a team," he added.
Bulldog Marcus Kilman shot a two-day total of 154 for sixth place and Johnny Nix, another Whitefish junior, came in eighth after losing a scorecard playoff to Capital’s Cale Hines; Nix shot a 78 on both days.
Senior Anyah Cripe scored the highest for the Whitefish girls in the tournament with a two-day total of 183 for fifth place overall. After the first day Cripe was in 11th after scoring a 98; she moved up significantly, improving on her first day score by shooting an 85 on Thursday.
Cripe finished behind golfers all from Class AA schools including Flathead’s Jillian Wynne, who took the medalist honors, two golfers out of Glacier High School and one from Helena. Class A Hamilton’s Aly Rose scored a 184 to take sixth behind Cripe.
Bulldog Stella Jaffe had a total score of 208 for the second best Whitefish girl of the tournament, and Macy Whisenand and Tallory Workman were both close behind her scoring 210. As a team the girls took third place overall.
"We tied for third, beating Flathead, Polson and Hamilton," Rocksund said. "These are teams that have beaten us on the girl's side for most of the year, so we played really well."
Bulldog golf also traveled to Hamilton for a tournament on Saturday, but due to a busy golf week the team took mostly junior varsity players while resting the top varsity players.
Whitefish’s season is nearing an end as the team heads to the Western A Divisional in Hamilton on Saturday.
Kalispell Invitational
BOYS
Team scores — 1, Glacier 627, 2, Whitefish 627; 3, Sentinel 632; 4, Helena Capital 639; 5, Polson 657; 6, Hellgate 673; 7, Great Falls CMR 675; 8, Flathead 691; 9, Hamilton 701; 10, Glacier JV 707; 11, Missoula Big Sky 709; 12, Helena 761; 13, Great Falls High 779; 14, Flathead JV 812; 15, Columbia Falls 832.
Top 15 Individuals
1, x-Joe Opitz, Sentinel, 76-76—152; 2, y-Tyler Avery, Glacier, 79-73—152; 3, Billy Smith, Whitefish, 73-79—152; 4, Hayden Ellis, Big Sky, 79-74—153; 5, Eli Groshelle, CMR, 73-81—154*; 6, Marcus Kilman, Whitefish, 77-77—154; 7, Cale Hines, Capital, 77-79—156; 8, Johnny Nix, Whitefish, 78-78—156: 9, Sam Engellant, Glacier, 77-79—156; 10, Cale Hines, Capital, 77-79—156. x-won 3-way playoff; y-second in 3-way playoff; -won scorecard playoff.
WHITEFISH: Billy Smith 73-79—152; Johnny Nix 78-78—156; Marcus Kilman 77-77—154; Riley Brown 85-80—165; Bjorn Olson 88-92—180.
GIRLS
Team scores — 1, Glacier 752; 2, Helena Capital 773; 3, Whitefish 805; 4, Hamilton 810; 5, Polson 814; 6, Flathead 818; 7, Great Falls CMR 826; 8, Missoula Sentinel 873.
Top 15 Individuals
1, Jillian Wynne, Flathead, 89-80—169; 2, Stella Claridge, Glacier, 87-85—172; 3, Sarah Halferty, Helena, 83-90—173; 4, Chloe Tanner, Glacier, 88-89—177; 5, Anyah Cripe, Whitefish, 98-85—183; 6, Aly Rose, Hamilton, 89-95—184; 7, Kendra Thayer, CMR, 92-99—191*; 8, Paige O’Mara, Capital, 96-95—191; 9, Ashley Maki, Polson, 101-92—193; 10, Megan Swanson, Capital, 94-99—193. -won scorecard playoff.
WHITEFISH: Anyah Cripe 98-85—183; Macy Whisenand 112-98—210; Stella Jaffe 102-106—208; Tallory Workman 103-107—210; Leia Brennan 106-122—228.