Field set for state golf at Polson Bay

by Lake County Leader
| September 28, 2021 10:45 AM

Five Ronan golfers played their way into this weekend’s Class A state tournament at Polson Bay Golf Course with a strong showing in divisional play Friday at Hamilton.

Fifteen boys and 16 girls, including four each from Polson, had already qualified for the state tournament. The top eight boys and girls from Friday’s round at Hamilton Golf Club also advance to state. Among Friday’s qualifiers were Ruben Couture of Ronan, who shot an 88, along with teammates Dillon Pretty On Top (96) and Nash Niemeyer (96).

Polson sophomore Espn Fisher shot a 99 Friday and missed the cut by three strokes. The Polson boys will send Carson Hupka, Hunter Emerson and Torrin Ellis, who all shot 80, to state, along with Hunter Emerson, who shot 81.

The Pirates finished second Friday with a team score of 321, 10 strokes back of Whitefish. The Bulldogs placed three golfers in the boys Top 5, paced by Johnny Nix’s 73. The Chiefs finished seventh at 387 strokes.

On the girls side, Ronan’s Kylee Niemeyer and Alyssa Pretty On Top both shot 102 to make the state field, while fellow Maiden Aaliyah Decker came up four strokes short at 116.

Ashley Maki was top finisher among the Lady Pirates with a score of 92. She advances to state along with teammates Clare Konen (105), Kylee Seifert (105) and Kila Cannon (107).

Corvallis’ Macee Greenwood finished first among the girls with a 79, followed by Frenchtown’s Katie Lewis at 81.

The Lady Pirates were third in team standings at 409, 18 strokes behind Hamilton and 20 back of first-place Corvallis.

The state tournament takes place Friday and Saturday at Polson Bay. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain Friday with a high near 66, according to the National Weather Service’s Tuesday forecast. Saturday should be sunny with a high near 67.

Western A Divisional

Sept. 24 at Hamilton GC

Girls team scores: 1, Corvallis 389; 2, Hamilton 391; 3, Polson 409; 4, Whitefish 422; 5, Frenchtown 427; 6, Browning 481; 7, Stevensville, 502; 8, Columbia Falls, 531; 9, Libby 589.

Girls Top 15: 1, Macee Greenwood (Cor) 79; 2, Katie Lewis (Fr) 81; 3, Aly Rose (Ham) 83; 4, Macy Whisenand (Wf) 89; 5, Ashley Maki (Pol) 92; 6, Brooklyn Brown (Ham) 93; 7, Emma Hollingsworth (Ham) 102; 8, Gabby Krueger (Cor) 102; 9, Kylee Niemeyer (Ron) 102; 10, Alyssa Pretty On Top (Ron) 102; 11, Brooke Blue (Br) 103; 12, Ava Leopold (Cor) 104; 13, Hailey Anderson (Cor) 104; 14, Clare Konen (Pol) 105; 15, Kylee Seifert (Pol) 105.

Local girls: POLSON – Ashley Maki 46-46-92; Clare Konen 55-50-105; Kylee Seifert 49-56-105; Kila Cannon 51-56-107; RONAN – Kylee Niemeyer 51-51-102; Alyssa Pretty On Top 50-52-102; Aaliyah Decker 60-56-116.

Boys team scores: 1, Whitefish 311; 2, Polson 321; 3, Hamilton 334; 4, Corvallis 370; 5, Dillon 379; 6, Frenchtown 383; 7, Ronan 387; 8, Columbia Falls 403; 9, East Helena 405; 10, Libby 407; 11, Browning 460.

Boys Top 15: 1, Johnny Nix (Wf) 73; 2, Jackson Heath (Ham) 76; 3, Reece Malyevac (Lib) 76; 4, Billy Smith (Wf) 78; 5, Bjorn Olson (Wf) 78; 6, Tate Jessop (Cor) 79; 7, Carson Hupka (Pol) 80; 8, Torrin Ellis (Pol) 80; 9, Christian Lund (Pol) 80; 10, Kamas Romney (Fr) 80; 11, Hunter Emerson (Pol) 81; 12, Marcus Kilman (Wf) 82; 13, Lane Clark (CF) 82; 14, Max Cianflone (Ham) 83; 15, Carson Richie (Ham) 83.

Local boys: POLSON – Carson Hupka 42-38-80; Torrin Ellis 39-41-80; Christian Lund 39-41-80; Hunter Emerson 39-42-81; Espn Fisher 52-47-99; RONAN – Ruben Couture 47-41-88; Dillon Pretty On Top 46-50-96; Nash Niemeyer 50-46-96; Trey Samsel 48-59-107; Cooper Clary 51-58-109.