Finding Their Mark

When the dust settled after the two-day Kalispell Invitational, the annual prep golf tournament that features high schools from throughout Montana competing over 36 holes at two different courses, there was an unfamiliar name at the top of the girls team standings.

It was the hometown Flathead Bravettes.

And while Marcella Mercer’s position atop the individual standings could have been predicted, there might not have been a more unlikely group of golfers in the whole field than the ones that joined her. There’s the former state speech champion who had never swung a club before a few months ago, the former cross country runner whose coach thought she was lost on the first day of practice, the freshman daughter of a club professional who joined the team at the last possible moment and the three-year grinder who has persevered even as her team tied for last place in the state last year.

Want one more surprise?

The Bravettes third-year coach believes this group could bring a top-three trophy from the state tournament back to Kalispell for the first time in 16 years.

Kyle Dunfee is a Flathead grad, having played for the Braves in the mid-2000s and qualified for a pair of state tournaments. When he was tabbed to take over his alma mater’s boys and girls golf teams before the 2016 season, he knew the programs he inherited had enjoyed little success in recent years. But Dunfee was undeterred, saying at the time that he had “a burning desire to get the program back to the top level of AA.”

Coaches, however, can only do so much. And girls golf in particular has been a struggle for the Bravettes, who have only finished higher than 10th in the state twice since Glacier High School opened in 2007. Last year, Mercer burst onto the prep golf scene with a terrific freshman season capped by a ninth-place finish at the state tournament, but in golf the top four finishers from each school have their scores totaled together to come up with a team score. Mercer carded a 190 over two days. Her teammates’ average score was 249.

It didn’t seem like much would be different this year for the Bravettes. Sure, Mercer would be a contender for the state title, but other than senior Cassidy Lavin, who shot 205 at the 2017 state tournament, the roster was nothing but question marks.

“Girls golf in Montana is always kind of crapshoot,” Dunfee said, referencing the difficulty teams sometimes have to even find enough players to field a competitive roster.

To make sure Mercer and Lavin had a little help this fall, Dunfee and his assistant coach, Roy Antley, looked anywhere they could for backup. What they found was Sierra Dilworth, perhaps the least likely of any of Flathead’s new additions. Dilworth won a state championship in Lincoln-Douglas debate as a junior and Antley, also a debate coach at Flathead, began to recruit Dilworth in January, undeterred by the fact that she had never swung a golf club in her life.

“Right away she was hooked,” Dunfee said. “She picked up the game for the first time ever in July and she’s already (shooting) under 100. It’s development that’s unheard of, really.”

Dunfee credits Dilworth’s intelligence and willingness to internalize the coaching she receives as a big part of her success, saying she is “a sponge about learning new things.”

“I’ve never coached a girl as coachable as her in eight years of coaching,” he added.

At the Kalispell Invitational, Sept. 12-13 at Buffalo Hill and Northern Pines golf clubs, Dilworth was Flathead’s fourth-best finisher with a two-day total of 203. The Bravettes’ fourth-best golfer at last year’s state tournament carded a 281.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise,” Dunfee said. “Because without (Dilworth) we wouldn’t have that fourth score to count on. It’s been awesome.”

Mercer won the Kalispell invite with a day-two comeback, overtaking Missoula Sentinel’s Emily Garden by carding a second-day 78 and finishing at 158 for the tournament. Even though she boasts the most impressive pedigree on the team and has experience playing in out-of-season tournaments around the country, Mercer has taken major steps forward as a sophomore. Her season scoring average this year is 79.9, nearly 10 strokes better than her average last season. She fired 74-73 to win the Capital City Invitational in early September, carding the two best rounds of her career and at one point birdying six straight holes. Dunfee says Mercer is a little better around the greens this year, but her real strength is her uncommon poise.

“She is about as steady of a kid as you’re ever going to find,” he said. “She doesn’t get high, she doesn’t get low. She’s a great kid, I love coaching her.”

Mercer this year also has a player nipping at her heels for the first time in freshman Jillian Wynne. The daughter of Eagle Bend Golf Club Head Professional Michael Wynne, Jillian was fourth at the Flathead Invitational and Dunfee believes she is a strong contender for the all-state recognition that accompanies a top-15 finish at the state tournament. Dunfee, in fact, said he believes Mercer, Wynne, Dilworth and Lavin could all finish as high as the top 15, and if not he has solid depth in seniors Sheridan Stroop and Tess Huckeba, a former cross country runner who joined the golf team for the first time this year.

The Bravettes are unlikely to catch either Bozeman, the two-time defending state champion, or Billings West at this year’s final tournament but Dunfee believes his team has a real shot at earning a trophy in third place. If they do, it would be Flathead’s first time in the top three since a third-place showing in 2002.

“It’s all the credit to the girls, first of all,” Dunfee said of his fast-improving lineup. “I appreciate them being coachable but they’ve been awesome.”

One of the teams Flathead may have to contend with for third place in the state is their crosstown rival. While Glacier was 32 strokes behind the Bravettes at the Kalispell Invitational, they did finish second as a team and boast their own top-10 stalwart in Kate Trunkle. A senior, Trunkle finished well out of the top 15 at last year’s state tournament but has become a much better putter this year and continued her rapid improvement.

“When she was a freshman she was shooting 110,” Jim Schaible, Glacier’s head coach, said. “Then breaking 110 was a big deal, and then into the 90s and the 80s.”

Trunkle is joined by junior Hailey Iverson, the cousin of another former Wolfpack golfer in former two-time state champion Larry Iverson. Hailey (185) was sixth at the Kalispell Invite, while Abi Manger (201) finished 15th and Avery Anderson (204) was 18th.

On the boys side, both Flathead and Glacier are young but improving. The Wolfpack in particular are extremely green, led by freshmen Keaton Cassidy and Will Salonen. Cassidy is the only Glacier golfer to post a varsity score in every tournament this year and was fifth at the Kalispell Invite, just seven shots off the lead.

“They’re getting much better, so much more mature,” Schaible said of his boys team.

For Flathead, Ezra Epperly (15th) was the low man at the Kalispell Invitational and is looking to improve on a 35th-place performance at last year’s state tournament.

The 2018 Class AA state golf tournament is Sept. 27-28 at Butte Country Club.

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