Reed Platke is in familiar territory.
Platke, a junior golfer at Whitefish High School, won his third straight Northwestern A divisional title on Sept. 25 in Ronan, shooting a 73 to best Columbia Falls’ Jordan Mueller by four strokes. Both the Whitefish boys and girls won the team titles, with Kiley McConnell leading the girls with a tournament-best 78.
Now Platke enters the state tournament again as one of the favorites to win. The Class A boys and girls state golf tournament is scheduled for Oct. 1-2 in Laurel.
Platke shot a 113 over 27 holes to claim last year’s Class A individual title. As a freshman in 2008, Platke shot consecutive 76s over 36 holes to come in second place, one shot behind Billings Central’s Preston Matchett. If not for that one-stroke difference in 2008, Platke would be shooting for his third straight state title.
But Platke should have plenty of company at the top of the leader board this season, and most of it will likely come from a group of Hamilton golfers. Over the weekend, Hamilton shot 298 to cruise to a 66-stroke Southwestern A divisional title over second-place Anaconda.
Hamilton golfers took the top three spots and four out of the top five. All four of those golfers are expected to compete at state, with Eli Rogers leading the way. Rogers shot a 68 to claim first place at divisionals.
Following Rogers were teammates Brad Palin and Tyler Jessop, who shot 73 and 74, respectively. Kyle Lubke finished fifth with 83.
As a team, Whitefish shot 311 at the divisional tournament. Second-place Polson shot 342 and Columbia Falls finished with 354. The top three teams and 15 individuals from their respective divisional tournaments advance to state.
Besides Platke and Columbia Falls’ Mueller, the other qualifying boys were Cody Fischer of Polson (79); Parker Johnson of Columbia Falls (79); Camp Kenyon of Whitefish (79); Dylan Parr of Whitefish (80); Arthur Doorn of Whitefish (83); Hayden Congdon of Polson (83); Louis Cielak of Libby (85); Dakota Jenson of Polson (85); Riley Dennis of Ronan (88); Kyler Blades of Whitefish (89); Payton Adams of Ronan (90); Nick Emerson of Columbia Falls (94); and Austin Von Tom of Polson (95).
Whitefish is the two-time defending Class A champion and has won nine boys titles under head coach Terry Nelson, now in his 26th season. Hamilton won in 2007.
For girls, McConnell is trying to become the first girl golfer from Whitefish since Lyndsie Jensen in the 1990s to claim the Class A individual title. McConnell beat teammate Danielle McCully (85) by seven strokes to win the Northwestern A divisional crown.
Whitefish had the top team score with 364. Polson was runner-up at 399 and Columbia Falls came in third at 463. Under coach Nelson, Whitefish has won 15 Class A state titles.
McConnell must overcome two golfers from the eastern portion of the state: Billings Central’s Kyla Clancy and Sidney’s Katelyn Frank. At last year’s state tournament, Frank shot a 116 over 27 holes to beat out Clancy by four strokes for first place. McConnell finished fourth, 12 strokes off the pace.
Clancy beat Frank at the Eastern A divisionals on Sept. 25, shooting an 83 to Frank’s 86.
In addition to McConnell and McCully, the other 13 state qualifying golfers from Northwestern A are Amy Williamson of Polson (90); Erin Tabish of Whitefish (96); Kat Medland of Polson (100); Jaylin Kenney of Polson (103); Paige Delauranti of Ronan (104); Klaire Taylor of Whitefish (105); Alex Dulmes of Ronan (106); Anna DiGiallardo of Polson (106); Mikaliah Wilson of Polson (107); Nika Geratova of Columbia Falls (108); Emma Dowaliby of Whitefish (113); Michelle Hagen of Columbia Falls (116); and Courtney Tamburelli of Columbia Falls (116).