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Area
September 2018
FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
www.havredailynews.com
Pony golf teams already in the heart of their 2018 season Havre High golf has a new head coach in Walynn Burgess George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com Fall always seems to feel like it should be the end of golf season but for the Havre High golf teams, it's the beginning and the end. In high school sports there is always turnover and there will be with the Ponies, too. The biggest change comes in leadership, as Walynn Burgess has taken over the reins as head coach. The previous head coach was Brett Gillman. In addition to a new coach, the Ponies also have some new players, with 24 total going out, including a slew of returners on both the boys and girls teams. “We have about 24 kids out and a lot of them are younger,” Burgess said, “so that’s exciting. I think that we have some talent. We definitely have some things to learn and need to get some experience, but I think that we have some potential to be a pretty good team down the road.” The boys team failed to make the Class A state tournament in 2017, however, the Pony boys are not without state experience as both Caleb Chambliss and Nolan Lotton return after competing at state a season ago. The girls team did in fact qualify for the state tournament and the Ponies wound up finishing sixth. A big part of that effort was Teagan Fee, who shot for ninth place over all, earning her Class A All-State honors. While having an All-State golfer in the lineup will be a luxury for coach Burgess, the girls team, which currently has just four players, also has some others who return with state-tournament experience, such as senior Kinzee Peterson, who is also an All-State softball player and Jocelyn Staples. The other member of the girls team will be Sophie Kirkpatrick. The boys team will have less experience overall than the girls squad, but there will also be more competition for a spot on the varsity roster each week. Burgess said it would be decided on a weekly basis but that as of right now Chambliss is considered his No. 1. Other contenders are Josh Warp, Tyrell Kjersem, Tavish McLean, Lotton, Eli Cloninger and Clint Owens. “We are really young,” Burgess said. “I think of the 24 kids that we have, only five or so are juniors or above. So we are going to be young but we have some talent.” Havre has already played most of its regular season tournaments this season, and will look to finish strong with the Eastern A Divisional Sept. 21 in Laurel, and the Class A State Tournament Sept. 28-29 at the Hamilton Country Club in Hamilton.
Courtesy of Helmbrecht Studios Above: The Havre High boys golf team poses for its annual team photo earlier this summer at Prairie Farms Golf Course. The Blue Pony boys are young, but numbers are high, and Havre is starting to show big improvements as the season has gone on. Right: The Havre High girls golf team poses for a photo earlier this summer at Prairie Farms Golf Course. Both Blue Pony teams are under the direction of new head coach Walynn Burgess, and the teams are past the halfway point of the 2018 season.