Golfers get underway

The Malta Golf team has seen a pair of meets this season after a late start due to the amount of snowfall Eastern Montana had over the winter.

The team's first meet was in Shepherd on Saturday, April 21. They were in another meet in Glasgow on Friday, April 27, and their most current meet was played on Saturday, April 28, in Plentywood.

The Malta M-ettes golf team took second in the Glasgow Golf Invitational with a total of 477. The boy's team did not place but had 432 strokes.

"Friday was a beautiful day for golf," Malta Golf Coach Travis Somerfeld said. "There was hardly any wind and the sun was shining."

Though they did not place, Coach Somerfeld was proud of how the boys competed.

"Our boys played some of the best golf of their lives that day," he said. "It was very good to see as a coach. Ezra Judd and Miles Bunk both shot personal bests. Ezra is going to shoot our lowest score at 104 and Miles shot a 105. Grayson Waters performed in his first golf meet of the year and he struggled a little on the front nine shooting a 64. However, he rebounded and played really tough golf on the back-nine shooting a 47. This was a really good meet for our boys because they saw all the golfers they will see at divisionals."

Reba Doucette led Malta with a score of 100 in Glasgow. Chloe Hunter had 119 strokes, Kloie Marks had a score of 123, Rya Soul had a score of 135 and Chayana Stolem had a score of 142.

Hunter had a strong performance in Plentywood with a score of 113, which gave her ninth overall. She was the only M-ette able to compete.

"I was so proud of Chloe's performance on Saturday at Plentywood," Coach Somerfeld said. "The golf course that day played very tough due to the wind. However it did not bother Chloe, she went on to shoot a 113 which is her personal best. Her front nine was very impressive shooting a 52. This actually was good enough to place her 8th but she lost the chip off. Coach Kara Tangedal and I were really proud of Chloe performance."

The boy's team scores have been gradually dropping throughout the last couple of meets but Coach Somerfeld is hoping for more consistent games as the year nears its end.

"Our boy's team is very competitive for the five varsity spots," he said. "There are about eight golfers who could win those spots. We will average all their rounds together to figure out who our five varsity boys golfers are. The big thing for the boys is putting a complete round together. What I saw this weekend; the boys would have a really good first nine and then a bad second nine or vice-versa."

Coach Somerfeld is optimistic that the team will post its first sub-100 scorer within the next few meets.

"The goal for the boys right now is to be the first person to shoot under 100," he said. "I think by the end of the year we will have multiple boys getting scores in the 90's. Another goal for the boys would be to see a boy qualify for state."

Malta was able to have their first outdoor practice on Monday, April 23.

"It was really nice to finally get onto the course," Coach Somerfeld said. "We were so limited in what we could do inside. Being able to practice up on the course makes practice more enjoyable for the kids."

This week, Malta will be headed to Roundup on Wednesday, May 2, and then to Wolf Point on Friday, May 4. Malta will also attend the Chinook Invitational on Saturday, May 5. The Divisional Meet will be held in Glasgow on Monday, May 7.

"This next week I want our kids to focus on fine-tuning the little parts of the game," Coach Somerfeld said. "Each golfer has different weaknesses and this week both at meets and at practice, I want the golfers to focusing on improving their weakness. If they can slowly improve on those weaknesses, then they can meet their goals."