BUTTE, Mont. – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s and women’s golf teams couldn’t quite keep pace over the final 18 holes of the first Frontier Conference tournament of the season and both had to settle for second place on Monday.
Both teams led after Sunday’s opening 36 holes at the Fairmont Hot Springs golf course, but stumbled a bit as the Montana Tech men and Rocky Mountain women rallied to take the team titles.
On the men’s side, Montana Tech shot a team score of 290 on Monday to overcome LCSC’s two-shot advantage and win by two shots over the Warriors, who had a 294 on Monday for an 875 total. Rocky Mountain was a distant third at 899.
The Warrior women were hampered by an injury to sophomore Alana Norris and had to go with just four players during the final round and shot a team score of 328 for a 968 total. Rocky had a 307 on Monday for a 963 score. Each team is allowed five golfers, but only the top four scores from each round are used to determine the team score. Because Norris played in the first round on Sunday, LCSC was not allowed to substitute for her during Monday’s play.
Despite the two second-place finishes, LCSC coach Paul Thompson was encouraged. For the men, Montana Tech was playing on its home course, but could only gain a two-shot edge on LCSC. He also said both teams played defending champion Rocky Mountain tough.
Chris Kneen, a sophomore, fired a final-round of 73 for a 213 total, which left him two shots behind the overall winner, Gary Knight of Westminster. Connor McCracken shot LCSC’s best round of the day with a 70 and finished at 215.
Courtney Shrout finished four shots behind the women’s overall champion, Brooke Stewart of Rocky, who finished with a 73 for a 228 total. Shrout, who had a one-shot lead entering the round, fired LCSC’s top score with a 78 for a 232 total.
Both teams will be back in action next Monday and Tuesday for Carroll College’s portion of the conference tournament. In all, six conference tournaments will be held and the team score from each tourney will be added together to determine an overall champion.
MEN
Team scoring – 1, Montana Tech 290-873. 2, LCSC 294-875. 3, Rocky Mountain 290-899.
LCSC scores – Chris Kneen 73-213, Connor McCracken 70-215, Scott Mooney 74-222, JP Moreno 78-227, Chris Jarrett 72-228.
Other LCSC scores – Patrick Casabonne 73-225.
WOMEN
Team scoring – 1, Rocky Mountain 307-963. 2, LCSC 328-968.
LCSC scores – Courtney Shrout 78-232, Madeline Jarrett 82-247, Chantelle Beveridge 86-247, Juanita Villa 82-252, Alana Norris, dnf.
Other LCSC scores – Katie Fuqua 82-253, Sue James 85-254, Jordan Knapp 86-262.
