BILLINGS, Mont. – With a team score of one under par on the third and final round, the Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team held on to its day-one lead and clinched the win at the Frontier Conference tournament at the Yegen Golf Club on Monday.
Drew Reinland (photo) earned the medalist honors as he led the Warriors with a 69 on Monday and finished 10 under par with a 203 overall. Kyler Gable hit par with a score of 71 on Monday to finish at 209.
“Reinland was trying out a new putter and didn’t really put that well, but he struck the ball really well,” said LCSC head coach Paul Thompson.
The Warriors began play on Monday with a one-shot lead over Rocky Mountain and ended up winning the tournament by three strokes. LCSC finished at 840, Rocky followed at 843, Carroll was third at 850, and Westminster fourth with 865.
“I think they’re just now starting to play up to their potential,” said LCSC head coach Paul Thompson about his players. “We had some problems putting and that’s something we’re working on, but one of the things about our team is that it is exceptionally long off the tee and that helps with a golf course with yardage like this.”
The Lewis-Clark State women’s team also shot well on Monday, but the lead of Westminster was too much to surmount. Westminster finished at 898, LCSC at 927, and Rocky Mountain at 941.
Brooke Dagner shot a 71 on Monday to lead LCSC with a 225. She was just six shots behind MSU-Billing’s Kalli Stanhope who took home the medalist honors with a score of 219. LCSC’s Heather Bruce finished at 231.
“I was really pleased with our women,” said Thompson. “We shot great, but Westminster just shot better.”
With a win in Billings, the final conference tournament of the fall, the LCSC men’s team looks poised to defend its conference title in the spring. The Warriors will play two more conference tournaments in the spring, one in Lewiston and one in Missoula.
“This win comes at a real good time because now we’ve played at the home courses of Rocky and Carroll, and now they’ll have to come play at ours.”
Lewis-Clark State will participate in a couple more events before hanging up the clubs this fall. The men will play in at the NAIA Men’s Golf National Preview in Salem, Ore., on Oct. 3-4, and the women will play at the North Idaho Invitational in Hayden, Idaho, on Oct. 9-10.
Team scores after two fall events:
1, Westminster 1,838. 2, LCSC 1,876. 3, Rocky Mountain 1,944.
Final RMC Tournament standings:
MEN
Team scores - 1, LCSC 840. 2, Rocky Mountain 843. 3, Carroll 850. 4, Westminster 865.
LCSC scores - Drew Reinland, Medalist, 67-67-69-203, Kyler Gable 69-69-71-209, Tyler Johnson 70-71-71-212, James Rooney 78-69-72-219, Dillon Williams 75-72-75-222. Other LCSC scores - Jordan Beveridge 75-70-75-220, Brennan Hansen 73-73-75-221.
WOMEN
WOMEN
Team scores - 1, Westminster 898. 2, LCSC 927. 3, Rocky Mountain 941.
Medalist – Kalli Stanhope, MSU-Billings, 72-70-77-219.
Medalist – Kalli Stanhope, MSU-Billings, 72-70-77-219.
LCSC scores – Brooke Dagner 77-77-71-225, Heather Bruce 76-75-80-231, Idah Whisenant 78-78-78-234, Shanna Herman 80-79-79-238, Kelsey Haycock 83-83-79-245. Other LCSC score - Kelsey Bottorff 90-86-88-264.
