Whitefish boys divisional golf champs, girls qualify for state

The Whitefish boys golf team became back-to-back Western A Divisional champions on Friday in Hamilton on a course that presented challenging conditions.

Bulldog junior Johnny Nix took medalist honors in the tournament to lead his team to first place while on the girls side Macy Whisenand put together a performance that placed her fourth in the girls overall individual results; the girls team came in fourth overall, just enough to qualify for the state tournament this week.

“Overall, a great showing for the Whitefish Bulldogs at the Western A Divisional tournament,” Whitefish golf head coach Tait Rocksund said. “There was a lot of pressure out at the course that day; the greens were tough, making it hard to read putts.

“The course has had some irrigation issues, making the conditions hard and fast,” he added. “Despite tough conditions, we met our team goals for both teams.”

Nix shot a 35 out and came in a 38, scoring 73 to take the divisional title. He won by three strokes over Hamilton’s Jackson Heath and Libby’s Reece Malyevac who both scored 76. His effort led the Bulldog boys to a team score of 311 and a win by 10 strokes over Polson.

“The boys won the tournament behind Johnny Nix's medalist honor round of 73,” Rocksund said. “When Johnny's driver is on, he can really take a lot of challenges from a golf course out of play.”

Whitefish’s Bjorn Olson and Billy Smith both shot 78, which led to a playoff hole between the two to determine places. Olson won the playoff taking fourth in the tournament, Smith came in fifth. Bulldog senior Marcus Kilman shot an 82 and took 12th to finish in the top 15 and round out the all-conference honors for Whitefish.

On the girls side, Whitefish beat Frenchtown by five strokes to finish in fourth place and qualify for the State A tournament. The Bulldogs scored 422, finishing behind Corvallis with 389, Hamilton at 391 and Polson with a score of 409.

Whisenand played some of her best golf of the season to score an 89 and finish fourth. Corvallis standout Macee Greenwood took medalist honors in the girls tournament with a 79.

“Macy Whisenand played her best golf at the right time to secure fourth place and all-conference honors to lead the girls team to state qualification,” Rocksund said. “It was pretty tight out there, but the girls took care of business.”

Stella Jaffe shot a 106 to end up in 16th place just outside of the all-conference honors. Bulldog senior Anyah Cripe had a score of 112 and Tallory Workman scored 115.

Bulldog golf is back in action this weekend at the State A golf tournament in Polson beginning day one at 10 a.m. on Friday and finishing on Saturday.

Western A Divisional

Hamilton Golf Club

Friday

BOYS

Team scores — Whitefish 311; Polson 321; Hamilton 334; Corvallis 370; Dillon 379; Frenchtown 383; Ronan 387; Columbia Falls 403; East Helena 405; Libby 407; Browning 460.

Top 15 individuals

1, Johnny Nix, Whitefish, 73; 2, Jackson Heath, Hamilton, 76; 3, Reece Malyevac, Libby, 76; 4, Billy Smith, Whitefish 78; 5, Bjorn Olson, Whitefish, 78; 6, Tate Jessop, Corvallis, 79; 7, Carson Hupka, Polson, 80; 8, Torrin Ellis, Polson, 80; 9, Christian Lund, Polson, 80; 10, Kamas Romney, Frenchtown, 80; 11, Hunter Emerson, Polson, 81; 12, Marcus Kilman, Whitefish, 82; 13, Lane Clark, Columbia Falls, 82; 14, Max Cianflone, Hamilton, 83; 15, Carson Richie, Hamilton, 83.

GIRLS

Team scores — Corvallis 389; Hamilton 391, Polson 409; Whitefish 422; Frenchtown 427; Browning 481; Stevensville 502; Columbia Falls 531; Libby 589.

Top 15 Individuals

1, Macee Greenwood, Corvallis, 79; 2, Katie Lewis, Frenchtown, 81; 3, Aly Rose, Hamilton, 83; 4, Macy Whisenand, Whitefish, 89; 5, Ashley Maki, Polson, 92; 6, Brooklyn Brown, Hamilton, 93; 7, Emma Hollingsworth, Hamilton, 102; 8, Gabby Krueger, Corvallis, 102; 9, Kylee Niemeyer, Ronan, 102; 10, Alyssa Pretty on Top, Ronan, 102; 11, Brooke Blue, Browning, 103; 12, Ava Leopold, Corvallis, 104; 13, Hailey Anderson, Corvallis, 104; 14, Clare Konen, Polson, 105; 15, Kylee Seifert, Polson, 105.