By WHITNEY ENGLAND

Whitefish Pilot

At the Western A Divisional golf tournament last weekend the Whitefish golfers stayed focused through a couple of cold, blustery fall days at Polson Bay Golf Course.

The girls and boys teams both placed first in team scoring to take the divisional title, with the boys beating out Hamilton by 24 strokes. The girls team overcame a strong Polson squad, who came in second behind the Bulldogs.

“I’m so proud of both teams, the boys and the girls both,” Bulldog golf coach Bill Kahle said. “It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work this season and it’s nice to take this step. I know everybody has their eye on the state tournament this week, but this was a really good preview.”

On the boys side, the Whitefish Bulldogs one-two punch of defending state A champion Cameron Kahle and Texas-transfer Billy Smith struck again. Kahle finished in first place scoring a 72 with Billy Smith right on his tail with just two extra strokes.

The Bulldog boys put four golfers in the top eight, and all five boys earned all-conference honors as they prepare for the state tournament this week. Marcus Kilman placed fourth, Johnny Nix in eighth and Bjorn Olson rounded out the boys team in 12th place.

For the girls, Anyah Cripe fired a 90 to come in third with Kendall Reed close behind in fifth place with a score of 91. Maddie Sramek in eighth and Anna Elm finishing 12th qualified all four ladies for all-conference honors. Makenna Woody rounded out the girls coming in 17th, which coach Bill Kahle complimented her on a great performance at her first divisional tournament.

“Makenna Woody… she played so well; she was right there on the cusp,” the coach said. “(The girls) have finished in fourth place at a couple of tournaments, and there are some very good girls teams in our division, and I’m just really happy that it came together the way that it did.”

Whitefish will take all 10 golfers to the State A tournament in Butte this week and Bill Kahle is confident the Bulldogs will be among the top teams to beat. In addition he believes that both his son Cameron Kahle and teammate Smith have a legitimate shot at taking the state title. He commented that the course at Butte Country Club is different from most courses they play on all season, it requires great precision from the tee to the green.

“It’s really going to come down to execution, but if either one of those boys plays to their abilities I think they have a really good chance, both of them, competing for the state title,” he said.

On Thursday and Friday, Oct. 1-2, Whitefish Golf will travel to Butte to compete in the Class A State Golf Tournament.

Western A Divisional

Saturday

Polson Bay Golf Course

Boys

Team scores — 1, Whitefish 308; 2, Hamilton 332; 3, Polson 351; 4, Frenchtown 365; 5, Corvallis 375; 6, Libby 401; 7, Dillon 410; 8, Ronan 412; 9, Browning 469.

Individual

1. Cameron Kahle, Whitefish 72

2. Billy Smith, Whitefish 74

3. Marcus Kilman, Whitefish 80

4. Johnny Nix, Whitefish 82

5. Bjorn Olson, Whitefish 85

Girls

Team scores — 1, Whitefish 379; 2, Polson 397; 3, Corvallis 400; 4, Hamilton 420; 5, Ronan 424; 6, Frenchtown 444; 7, Browning 444; 8, Columbia Falls 499.

Individual

1. Anyah Cripe, Whitefish 90

2. Kendall Reed, Whitefish 91

3. Maddie Sramek, Whitefish 97

4. Anna Elm, Whitefish 101

5. Makenna Woody, Whitefish 104