When the regulation 18 holes were complete at the Scobey Invitational, there were still more swings of golf clubs to be swung.
Two to be exact, and Scobey sophomores Cooper Axtman and Evan Tande would be doing the swinging.
Held Monday, April 29, at the Scobey Golf Course, where the temperature was 67 degrees with a little bit of wind in the air as 3 o’clock was approaching, the teammates found themselves in a chip-off to determine who would place first in a field of 27 and who would become the runnersup.
Tande led at the turn with a 2-over-par 38 while Axtman, in addition to Plentywood’s Carson Solberg, had a 39. On the back nine Axtman shot a 38 while Tande, as well as Solberg, carded a 39.
So over to the north side of the No. 9 green the two teammates went for a chipoff— closest to the pin gets the win.
Axtman, most likely swinging a wedge by the way the ball went so high in air, watched his white-dimpled orb plop down on the green carpet and roll a bit on the other side of the pin, coming to a halt around 20 feet past the cup. Tande took his turn and the ball stopped rolling about a dozen feet in front of the cup for the victory.
In addition to those two, also receiving medals were sophomore Brecken Maher with a 42-40—82 for fourth place and Braxton Wolfe carding a 43-42—85 for sixth.
The rest of the Scobey boys finished with these 18hole figures: Carter Lekvold 94; Asher Boze 98; Aydan Stentoft 100, Seth Halverson 110 and Christian Girard 142.
On the girls side of things, Paityn Curtiss fired a fine 39-40-79 to bring back to Plentywood the first-place medal. Combined with Sydney Richardson’s 47-49—96 for second place and Dori Borntrager’s 6053-113 for fifth, the Wild cats placed first in the team standings, outdistancing second-place Scobey by a 46-stroke margin.
Avery Wolfe and Sophia Handran placed third and fourth respectively, both carding 110s, while Claire Lekvold was seventh with a 114, Ashtynn Fladager eighth at 116 and Hadley Maher 10th at 120.
The Scobey kids were in action Monday, April 22, at the Richey-Lambert Invite at the Sidney Country Club but it was shut down due to very strong winds (40-50 mph gusts) as some golfers still had six holes to go.
The next day the Spartans returned to the Sidney 18-hole course for the Fairview Invitational and completed all 18 holes.
Huntley Project was the winner for the boys with a 323 with Scobey in second at 348. Following were Broadus at 370, Plentywood 382, Poplar 383, Froid-Lake 428, Fairview 431, Bainville 507 and Baker 556. Axtman led the Spartans with a 79 followed by Wolfe at 84, Maher 91, Tande 94, and Boze 112.
The final team scores for the girls had Broadus winning with a 382, Plentywood 434, Scobey 457, Savage 457, Bainville 543 and Richey-Lambert 576.
Lekvold led the Lady Spartans with a 105 followed by Wolfe at 113, Handran 117, Fladager 122 and Maher 143.
Scobey will finish the regular season at the Poplar Invitational Thursday, May 2, at the Airport Golf Course east of Wolf Point followed by the Friday, May 3, Plentywood Invite, with both having 10 a.m. tee-off times.
After that it’s back to Sidney for the East C Divisional Meet on Monday, May 6, where the Scobey lads enter the competition as the defending champions after winning it last season in Laurel.
The top 20 individuals and top four teams in Sidney advance to the State Meet in Hamilton May 14-15.
Here are the results of this week’s action at the Scobey Golf Course:
SCOBEY INVITATIONAL Monday, April 29 Scobey Golf Course Scobey, Montana GIRLS Team scores — Plentywood Wildcats 145-143—288, Scobey Spartans 174-160—334, Culbertson Cowgirls 229-202—431.
Field of 14 — Paityn Curtiss, Plentywood, 39-40—79; Sydney Richardson, Plentywood, 4749—96; Avery Wolfe, Scobey, 57-53—110; Sophia Handran, Scobey, 56-54—110; Dori Borntrager, Plentywood, 60-53—113, Tessa Howard, Plentywood, 5954—113; Claire Lekvold, Scobey, 61-53—114; Ashtynn Fladager, Scobey, 60-56—116; Ella Simonson, Plentywood, 60-56—116; Hadley Maher, Scobey, 59-61— 120; Macy Lambert, Culbertson, 72-54—126; Josie Simonsen, Culbertson, 76-70—146; Isabella Apple, Culbertson, 81-78—159; Alissa Whitford, Hays-Lodgepole, 83-82—165.
BOYS Team scores — Scobey Spartans 119-117—236, Plentywood Wildcats 124-122—246, Poplar Indians 135-131—266, Culbertson Cowboys 155-153— 308, Fairview Warriors 155-159— 314.
Field of 27 — Evan Tande, Scobey, 38-39—77 (won chip-off); Cooper Axtman, Scobey, 39-38— 77; Carson Solberg, Plentywood, 39-39—78; Brecken Maher, Scobey, 42-40—82; Andy Kaul, Plentywood, 41-42—83; Braxton Wolfe, Scobey, 43-42—85; Seth Borah, Plentywood, 44-41—85; Landon Young, Poplar, 45-41— 86; Ayden Kaul, Plentywood, 46-42—88; Kaniel Ricker, Poplar, 43-46—89; Lukas Young, Poplar, 47-44—91; Carter Lekvold, Scobey, 49-45—94; Ty Paulson, Fairview, 44-50—94; Quinn Sutherland, Poplar, 49-45—94; Gavin Lindblom, Plentywood, 5046—96; Bridger Salvevold, Culbertson, 48-48—96; Asher Boze, Scobey, 47-51—98; Aydan Stentoft, Scobey, 53-47—100; Kameron Reum, Poplar, 52-48—100; Collin, Plentywood, 53-50—103 (JV); Mathew Wadsworth, Culbertson, 56-47—103; Brody Bushnell, Fairview, 56-52—108; Mark Kirkaldie, Culbertson, 51-58— 109; Seth Halverson, Scobey, 54-56—110; Gabe Callender, Fairview, 55-57—112; Chris Anderson, Plentywood, 56-57—113 (JV); Evan Hampton, Plentywood, 57-58—115 (JV); Ian Snyder, Culbertson, 57-61—118; Christian Girard, Scobey, 68-74—142.