PREP GOLF: A glance at state tournaments
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 8 months AGO
At Avondale Golf Club
Hayden Lake
2014 CHAMPIONS: Eagle boys, Rocky Mountain girls
LOCAL QUALIFIERS: Post Falls boys, Lake City boys, Coeur d'Alene girls, Lake City girls, Maddi Anderton, Post Falls.
NOTES: Coeur d'Alene's boys qualified for state last week by beating Lake City in a playoff for third place at the Region 1 tournament. But one of Cd'A's scoring players was later disqualified, and after the Vikings' team score was adjusted, they were two strokes behind Lake City ... Eagle's boys have won five straight state titles, and six of the last seven. Rocky Mountain won the last two girls titles. ... The Post Falls boys placed second to Lewiston by four strokes at last week's Region 1 tournament, and Coeur d'Alene won the girls regional title. ... Down south, Rocky Mountain's boys and Boise's girls won District 3 titles last week. Graysen Huff of Eagle was boys medalist and Brook Williams of Boise was girls medalist. ... The nines at Avondale have been flipped since last the state tournament was held there - the old front nine is now the back nine, and vice versa. Either way you play it, there is out of bounds on nearly every hole. "It's not one of those bomb-it-and-find-it and short game kind of things," Post Falls coach Maria Kostina said. "It's a shot-maker's course; you have to have a pretty good strategy on each hole."
At The Links Golf Club
Post Falls
2014 CHAMPIONS: Twin Falls boys, Bishop Kelly girls.
LOCAL QUALIFIERS: Lakeland boys, Lakeland girls
NOTES: Twin Falls has won four straight boys state titles, and Bishop Kelly has won three straight girls state titles. ... Lakeland's girls finished sixth last year, and return four of those five players, including Megan Cysewski and Haley Rotchford (both signed with Community Colleges of Spokane), and Sierra Tingey (committed to North Idaho College). Lakeland's boys team last qualified two years ago. Preston Roth shot a 2-under-par 71 for medalist honors as the Hawks won the regional title with a 307. "I know there's some really good boys teams down there," Maddy said, "but with that score we shot (at regionals), I like our boys' chances." ... As for Lakeland playing state on its home course - which often plays true to its name, with wind and rough lies for those who drift off the fairway - "I'll tell you one thing - it won't hurt us," Maddy said. "I think the biggest advantage we have that other teams will struggle on is those greens ... if you hit it in the wrong place on those greens, you could be in trouble."
At Twin Lakes Village
2014 CHAMPIONS: Buhl boys, Marsh Valley girls.
LOCAL QUALIFIERS: Kellogg boys, Kellogg girls, Mitch Kramer of Bonners Ferry.
NOTES: Kellogg has produced the last five state girls individual champions - Kaceelyn Pouttu from 2010-13, and Jesse Gibbons last year as a senior. ... Buhl is the two-time defending boys champion. ... Twin Lakes Village is not particularly long, but as its name suggests, "there's a lot of trouble," Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. "It's a shotmaker's course - there's lots of out of bounds."
At Bryden Canyon Golf Club
Lewiston
2014 CHAMPIONS: Salmon boys, Declo girls.
LOCAL QUALIFIERS: St. Maries boys, Wallace boys, St. Maries girls.
NOTES: St. Maries' boys finished fourth last year, bringing home a trophy, and the Lumberjack girls were seventh. David Burnett was medalist for St. Maries at districts. McKenzie Rose of St. Maries, who won girls medalist honors at districts in a playoff, finished eighth at state last year. Lumberjacks coach Bryan Chase thinks both his teams could be in the hunt for trophies this year. "I think I have a little deeper teams than I did last year," he said.