A Look At The Links: District Preview

It all comes down to Wednesday’s district tournament for our local golfers.  All of the work, practice and meets all season long are for this one game of golf to determine some district champions and perhaps even more importantly state qualifiers.

On the boys side of things the Grace Grizzlies have led the team scoring for much of the season amongst all of the district teams.  That being said, don’t count out the Cardinals either.  In several of the regular season tournaments and meets the Cardinals have been right on the heels of the Grizzlies.  It is a very real possibility that the two boys teams could finish one and two in the team standings.  The big wrench in this possibility comes by the way of the West Side Pirates.  The Pirates have found themselves right in between the two county squads on several occasions.  Most will be watching these three teams to see who will be crowned as this year’s district champions.  When it comes to individual scoring things are even more murky.  The Grizzlies top three golfers have each taken a turn at the top of the teams leaderboard in different tournaments this season.  Keathan Edwards is the youngest of the group being just a sophomore but has proven to be a real threat to win the individual championship.  Edwards’ two senior teammates Tate Williams and Jamie Smith have each outshot the younger teammate and each other on several occasions.  Grace’s number four golfer Derek Hill is no slouch himself although he has come up short against his fellow Grizzlies.  Meanwhile the Cardinals have a solid group of their own.  Like the Grizzlies each of the Cardinals top golfers have spent some time as the teams lead golfer however as of late Kayden Peterson seems to be emerging as the team’s leader.  The Cardinals other top golfers are Preston Ozburn, Chase Jacobsen, Brycen Petersen and Eli Byrum.  Any of the nine golfers from Caribou County could claim the individual title.  In this week’s district tournament I predict that the Grizzlies will take care of business in the team scoring and that the Cardinals will be in a battle with West Side for second place.  With that being said I do think that more than one Cardinal could earn an individual spot at state if their team comes up short.

As competitive as the boys are, the girls top golfers are even tighter.  The Lady Grizzlies have struggled with numbers this season and have not put up very many team scores.  That being said they have boasted two of the top golfers in this part of the state with Kamryn Mansfield and Karlie Christensen.  Mansfield and Christensen have led the district for most of the season but Soda Springs’ Jayden Parkers has been right behind them and this past week moved past Christensen to shoot the second best score in the district on the same course that will host districts this Wednesday.  Parker isn’t alone on the Cardinal’s roster.  Tara Vedder and Jasta Stoor join her as well as Jocee Tingey and Kale Hopkins.  The five Lady Cardinals have led the team scoring all season in the girls competition and are the clear favorites to win the district title.  The only real threat to the Cardinals will be the Grizzlies who just recently put together enough girls to make a competitive team.  Mansfield and Christensen lead the way for the Lady Grizzlies but will be joined by Shaston Lloyd, Tessica Jorgensen and Evie Olenslager.  I personally think that the Cardinals will do enough to get the job done however those that were around these two teams a year ago know stranger things can happen.  Last year it was the Grizzlies that were the heavy favorites but due to a small scoring technicality the Grizzlies had one golfer disqualified and the Cardinals nabbed the district title.  The Grizzlies will be hoping for some luck so they can return the favor this year.  As for Individual scoring Mansfield, Christensen, Parker, and Vedder are all in contention for the district title.  I personally don’t see a scenario where all four girls won’t at the very least qualify for state.

Wednesday’s district championship should be a thriller with lots of Caribout County success.  If you are a golf fan there will be no better place to be on what is forecast to be a beautiful day at the Preston Country Club.