On October 3rd and 4th Sentinels’ golf team headed out to Northern Pines Golf Club in Kalispell, MT for the state golf tournament. The tournament was played over two days with one practice day before for the teams.
The boys’ team went into state strong after getting second place in divisionals the week before. The girls’ team went into the tournament with three players, so they technically didn’t qualify as a team but went as individuals.
The boys’ team was looking for a repeat of their 2020 season, where they won the state title. Last year, they came close to making that happen after finishing second.
Day one
On the first day of the tournament, the boys’ team was off to a great start. They had a three-stroke lead ahead of Bozeman. The team was doing well in the standings with two boys in the top five and the other three in the top 30.
Junior Hudson Goroski and sophomore Jack Schaefer were going back and forth between first place with them both tying with a 73 in total. The whole team stayed pretty close together with Junior Willy Nowlen only one stroke behind them and Junior Gabe Shepard finished off the first day with a 77.
On the girls’ team Sophomore Maci Reiff was leading the team with a score of 92. Maci was looking good heading into this tournament because she got 9th at the divisional tournament the week prior.
Senior Aubrey Duman was not far behind her with a score of 97 and right behind her was Junior Grier Watkiss with a score of 125.
At the end of the first day, the top three boys and girls team scores were: the boys teams were Sentinel with 297, Bozeman with 300, and Glacier with 302. The girls were Billings West with 350, Billings Senior with 352, and Bozeman Gallatin with 359.
Day Two
The weather for the second day was a little rougher than the first day with some windstorms rolling in towards the end of the tournament.
Goroski had taken the first place in sports with Schaefer right behind him in third. In sconed was Cooper Bourret from Bozmen.
Galetin had taken first place in team standings but Goroski still had a chance to get a win as an individual. It all came down to the last hole where Goroski was just one stroke ahead of Bourret. Goroski was on the green in two strokes and only had to make par to seal his victory. He missed his first putt by just a foot or two which would have put him two strokes ahead of Bourret who made par. Goroski tapped in his next putt for first place.
Both Goroski and Schaefer were interviewed about the difference between the two days. Goroski said, “Day two I wasn’t really in it all day until my last couple of holes so I just dialed it in and finished the round on a high note”.
Schaefer said, “[The] [m]ain difference between one and two I would say was on day one just went out there firing to try and have the lead going into day two, and day two we had the lead so we played safer”.
The final boys and girls team scores were: The boys teams were Glacier with 592, Sentinel with 594, and Bozmeman with 605. The girls teams were Gallatin with 697, West with 698, and Senior with 701.
The Future
The boy’s team will not be losing any of their players and will have the same team for the 2024-2025 season. This hopefully will give them the final push to win the state title again.
Goroski and Schaefer were also asked how they feel about the team’s future and the personal goals they have for next season. Goroski said, “The team is ready to win next year” and “ I’d like to go back to back”. Schaefer said, “ Next year I see us setting a state record and bringing a state title back to sentinel”, and “Lead my team to a state championship and win state”.
For the girl’s team, only one senior will be leaving but the rest of the team is set to return next year.
