With all five players shooting in the 70s, the Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team grabbed the first-round lead at the annual Warrior Invitational on Monday at the Clarkston Golf & Country Club.
The final round of the 36-hole tournament will be played Tuesday.
With all teams playing in their first tournament of the spring, LCSC coach Paul Thompson said the rust was evident, but tough pin placements and fast greens on the par-72 6,700-yard tree-lined course made playing conditions difficult.
The Warriors, ranked No. 19 in the NAIA, shot a team score of 309, seven shots ahead of Lethbridge College’s 316. North Idaho College was third at 322, followed by Whitworth at 323 in the 10-team field.
The Warriors were led by junior Kyler Gable of Hayden, Idaho, with a 76. Senior Connor McCracken of Eagle, Idaho, had a 77, while Drew Reinland, a freshman from College Place, Wash., and Tyler Johnson, a junior from Hayden, had 78s. Brad Tracy, a junior from Moses Lake, Wash., had a 79.
Only the top four individual scores from each five-person team are used for the team score. LCSC was the only team in the field to have all five players shoot in the 70s.
“I think we were rusty from the (winter) layoff, but the green are really quick right now,” Thompson said. “Everyone struggled with that but we still didn’t play that well.
“We normally shoot about 285 to 290 so we were 10-20 shots above where we normally are.”
Thompson said the team has only had three practices since the start of the spring semester so the players haven’t had much time to work on their game.
However, it was LCSC junior Jason Molner of Longview, Wash., who actually turned in the best score of the day. Playing as an individual, Molner shot a 1-over-par 73 to post the best score by two shots. Among the scoring golfers, Baneron Lamb of Columbia Basin Community College and Max Bank of Pacific tied for low honors with 75s.
On the women’s side, Rocky Mountain has a five-shot lead over LCSC 353-358 after the opening 18 holes. RMC has the lead despite LCSC individuals posting three of the top six scores on the day.
RMC’s Katy Peterson had little problems during Monday’s round with a 3-over-par 75, which was 10 strokes better than her nearest competitor, LCSC freshman Brooke Dagner, who carded an 85. Fellow freshman Idah Whisenant carded an 87 for LCSC while senior Alana Norris tied for fourth overall with an 89.
The women’s tourney features only four full teams, while three others sent individuals but didn’t have four players to field a full squad.
This is LCSC’s only home meet of the 2010-11 season.
MEN
Team scores – 1, Lewis-Clark State 309. 2, Lethbridge College 316. 3, North Idaho College 322. 4, Whitworth 323, 5, Pacific 326, 6, tie, Northwest Nazarene and Columbia Basin CC 327. 8, Spokane Community College 331. 9, tie, Rocky Mountain and University of Lethbridge 332.
Top five scoring individuals – 1, Baneron Lamb, Columbia Basin CC, and Max Bank, Pacific, 75. 3, tie, Kyler Gable, LCSC, Tanner Laidlow, Lethbridge C., Brennan Rumancik, Lethbridge C., and Jeremy Jensen, NIC, 76.
LCSC – Kyler Gable 76. Connor McCracken 77, Drew Reinland 78, Tyler Johnson 78, Brad Tracy 79.
Lethbridge C. – Tanner Laidlow 76, Brennan Rumancik 76, Derrik Goodwin 81, Brady Carlson 83, Jordan Gibson 88.
NIC – Jeremy Jensen 76, Jacob Erickson 81, Kris Brett 82, Justin Newton 83, Ben Johnson 84.
Whitworth – Cameron Whittle 80, Ryan Young 80, Jesse Salzwedel 80, Christian Bordeau 83, Stephen Plopper 88.
Pacific – Max Bank 75, Ben Wright 83, Joshua Mau 83, Ryan Beeson 85, Chasen Bahouth 88.
NNU – Nick Hardy 79, Thomas Hanacek 82, Leon Vasquez 83, Zach Grunig 83, Brook Sargent 90.
Columbia Basin CC – Baneron Lamb 75, Colter Morton 78, Austin Key 85, Noah Irshad 89, Tyler Jensen 95.
SCC – Andrew Roller 78, Connor Claeys 84, Brandon Koehler 84, Alex Pounds 85, Graham Schmaltz 85.
RMC – Andy Rutz 80, Tom Meyer 81, Connor Rakowski 83, Justin Arney 88, Luke Martinson 91.
U of Lethbridge – Wes Chapman 78, Todd Chapman 79, Luke Dupley 82, Colin McIver 93, Jon Algeo 96.
Non-scoring individuals – Jason Molner, LCSC, 73, Scott Borsa, Leth 77, Dillon Williams, LCSC, 79, Ben House, LCSC, 79, Tyler Barrong, SCC, 81, Davis Halle, NNU 81, Eli Bowen, SCC, 82, Eric Porter, Leth, 83, James Rooney, LCSC, 84, Austin Butts, RMC, 85, Nic Gibson, NNU 85, Shawn Hartman, Leth, 94, Adam Freiburghaus, NNU, 102.
WOMEN
Team scores – 1, Rocky Mountain 353. 2, Lewis-Clark State 358. 3, Spokane Community College 394. 4, North Idaho College 395.
Top 5 individuals – 1, Katy Peterson, RMC, 75. 2, Brooke Dagner, LCSC 85. 3, tie, Jamie Smeaton, Leth, and Idah Whisenant, LCSC, 87. 5, tie, Alana Norris, LCSC, and Valerie Kitamori, Pac, 89.
Rocky Mountain – Katy Peterson 75, Lindsey Holzworth 92, Brittini Jones 92, Rachel Hosterman 94, Allie Sauvageau 104.
LCSC – Brooke Dagner 85, Idah Whisenant 87, Alana Norris 89, Kelsey Haycock 97, Shanna Herman 98.
Spokane Community College – Kelsey Berg 92, Alexa David 93, Kiana Payne 100, Sonnie Mitchell 110.
North Idaho College – Rachel Westby 94, Emily Thorud 95, Makena Schevenius 101, Natalia Arlindt 105, Kayla Lloyd 115.
Pacific University – Valeri Kitamori 89, Tami Park 93, Kaci Linton 98.
Columbia Basin – Gina Ojeda 97, Amy Verderber 100, Erin Fardell 110.
Lethbridge – Jamie Smeaton 87, Tannis Tailfeathers 104.
Non varsity – Jordan Knapp, LCSC, 95, Allie Sauvageau, RMC, 96.
