The Class A state golf tournament starts today after being delayed last week due to weather. The Class AA tournament is scheduled to begin tomorrow. It will be frigid golf, for sure, which could make picking winners that much more difficult in an already unpredictable sport. But the odds are decent that at least one team, and maybe three or four teams, from Kalispell or Whitefish will take home first-place trophies at the two tourneys.
In the Class A tournament, both the Whitefish boys and girls are considered favorites to win following dominating first-place finishes at the Northwestern A divisional. The boys won the tournament last year by 30 strokes over Billings Central for their fourth title in the last five years. The girls finished second. Since 1985, under the coaching of Terry Nelson, Whitefish’s boys and girls have combined for 23 state championships. The tourney is held on Whitefish Lake Golf Club’s South Course, the home course of the Bulldogs.
In Class AA, the Glacier boys are seeking their second state title in three years and the girls are seeking their first. Several teams appear to have legitimate state championship aspirations on the girls side, but for boys the frontrunner is clearly Billings West. West is the three-time defending champion (tied with Glacier in 2007) and has had an utterly dominating, record-breaking season. And the tournament is held in Billings. But Glacier, led by Grahm Schmaltz, is nipping at West’s heels. Schmaltz is trying to become Glacier’s third straight individual champion. Larry Iverson III, who now golfs at the University of Washington, won the past two seasons.
Both tournaments are two rounds. The Class A tourney is Monday and Tuesday, while Class AA is Tuesday and Wednesday, weather permitting. I will update the results.