The Polson girls golf team just isn’t beating the competition,

they are dominating it

POLSON - The girl's golf team at Polson High School has held the same goal throughout the season and that is to take home some trophies at the state tournament. If last week's Columbia Falls Invitational is any indication, they might need to find a fairly large trophy case.

The Lady Pirates went to Columbia Falls and returned with the five lowest scores of the tournament. Nicole Clairmont (92), Makaliah Wilson (96), Sequoiah Bogrow (98), Anna Digiallonardo (99) and Jaylin Kenny (104), left the rest of the field from Libby and Columbia Falls well behind in a dominating performance.

Head coach Bill Owen was very pleased with his team's performance but won't get ahead of things with about half of the season remaining.

"Where our team is at, they're showing some steady improvement and they're starting to get some shot-making going. There are some situations on that course where you have to make good decisions," Owen said.

Columbia Falls was the most difficult course the Lady Pirates have faced this season, according to Owen, and a first for many of the golfers, but his players handled the challenge exceptionally well.

"I felt like I was in the zone," Clairmont said. "I had a few bad shots that made me upset, but I was just like, ‘I'll just hit this next one, it'll go in."

Going forward, the Polson girls hope to stay the course, but the road ahead offers little in the way of ease, as they head to Libby to face the links in Northwestern Montana.

"What we want to do is maintain what we have going," said Owen. "It's another tough course, so the girls are going to have some tough moments on that course. You can hit fairways and still have tough shots, so I'm hoping they're getting a little more heady and confident when they have those tough lies."

What may relax the girls going forward is the opportunity to play with friends on the team. At the last tournament, Clairmont and Digiallonardo found themselves in the same group, as did Wilson, Bogrow and Kenny.

"Sometimes, you feel more comfortable," said Wilson of playing with teammates. "But there's also the competitive part of it."

That competitive side will be brought out by Whitefish High School, possibly Polson's toughest challenge in conference.

"Whitefish always shows improvement as the season goes, so we don't want to take them lightly," Owen said.

For now, however, Polson remains a dangerous threat to do big things in the Northwestern A Conference and the girls are as focused as ever.

The drive for the five continues.