The Sentinel boys golf team has performed incredibly well this season. Hudson Goroski and Kade McDonough were the bright spots of the team, putting on great performances in both the Western AA tournament and the State AA tournament.
The Sentinel boys team set the school record with their performance on the first day of the Western AA tournament. McDonough and Goroski led the team to a championship with their 1st and 2nd place performances.
In his own words, Goroski said “I was just draining putts.”
Kade McDonough shot a 66 on day 1, and a 68 on day two. For those who aren’t familiar with golf, this means that since the course was a Par 72, McDonough was 6 strokes under par on the first day, and 4 strokes under par on the second day. He had 3 consecutive birdies on holes 7, 8, and 9, redeeming himself from a bogey on hole 3.
The Spartan team as a collective shot out to a nice lead on Wednesday, day one of the tournament. They were able to maintain this lead and secure the tournament win after another successful bout on day 2, Thursday. They won by an impressive 22 strokes more than the second-place finisher, Kalispell Glacier.
Goroski set a personal record on the first day and had the best score of the tournament on Wednesday. He had a very impressive score of 65 that day, contributing to the school record and almost guaranteeing himself a top-10 “I was just draining putts.” — Hudson Goroski
Tiger Woods in his best season ever averaged 67.8, to put Goroski’s first-day score in perspective. But McDonough secured the tournament victory with his consistent performances on both Wednesday and Thursday. He shot a 68 on Thursday and a 66 on Wednesday, both very impressive scores.
Overall, the Western AA Montana tournament was highlighted by great performances by the Sentinel team. Winning the tournament by 22 strokes speaks to the amount of skill and talent of the players on the team. This talent was also displayed at the state tournament.
After the Western AA tournament, the golfers from Sentinel had to prepare for the State tournament. The great performances by the Spartan golfers set high expectations for their team heading into the State.
The state tournament took place in Billings, Montana, on Thursday and Friday, the 28th and 29th of September. High schools from all over the state were looking for a state championship title. Competing for Sentinel were Gabe Shepard, Hudson Goroski, Kade McDonough, Carson Bay, and Colin McCarthy. The format of the tournament was that 5 would compete for each team, and the 4 players with the highest scores would count towards the score. The player who scored the lowest had their score dropped when the team results were being calculated.
On the first day, Thursday, McDonough started off strong, completing the course in only 73 strokes. He had a streak of 7 holes in a row that he either shot par or got a birdie. And with only 4 bogeys on day 1, he was tied for second place at the end of day 1. In first place was Glacier’s Sam Engellant, who shot an impressive score of 70. Another Glacier golfer, Torren Murray, shot a 72, tying McDonough after day 1.
Glacier shot out to a lead the first day, though two of Sentinel’s golfers were under par on the day. Colin McCarthy also had a great first day, shooting a 71, and staying under par. Glacier was able to take the lead because two of Sentinel’s golfers shot over 80. Gabe Shepard shot 83, and Carson Bay shot an 88. Because only one of these scores could be dropped for that day, Sentinel had to take the 83 on their score sheet, and this is what let Glacier take the lead.
Glacier’s team was consistent on the first day, their team is a collection of some serious golfers. All of their team(the ones whose scores counted) shot under 77. Tanyon Murray of the Glacier team had an 8-hole streak of shooting at par, and the team in general was able to minimize bogeys, even if they didn’t have that many birdies.
Glacier still did have more birdies than Sentinel on the first day though, with 11 between the team. Sentinel only had 9. Kade McDonough’s performance consisted of him only bogeying on 3 out of 18 holes, and having 3 birdies, and 12 holes on par. The consistency of this young player is very impressive at this level.
On the second day, much was the same for both of these two teams, and they ended up placing second and first. Glacier won, but only by 5 strokes. This championship tournament was extremely tight, with Skyview High School placing third, also only behind Sentinel by 5 strokes. These three schools were by far the top three schools in the competition, with all three teams only divided by a 10-stroke difference. The 4th place team, Bozeman, finished a whole 22 strokes behind the 3rd place team, and 32 strokes out of first place. For all schools except for Skyview, Glacier, and Sentinel, the competition wasn’t even close.
For individual scores, Tye Boone of Skyview tied with Sam Engellant of Glacier for first place. Though he was able to take the individual title, Engellant couldn’t quite carry his team to victory, though he certainly put forth an effort to do so. On day 2 of the tournament, he only bogeyed on 1 hole and had 5 birdies, the most of the tournament for either day.
Sentinel’s McDonough finished third, though he was only 1 stroke away from making a 3-way tie for 1st place. Sam Engellant and Tye Boone each had 142 strokes total, and McDonough had 143.
Goroski, McDonough, and the Sentinel golf team have a bright future ahead of them, and hopefully, a state championship is in their future.
