Havre’s golf teams are halfway done with the postseason, completing the divisional round in Laurel this past week. The Ponies qualified its entire girls’ team for the state tournament and also got four individuals from the boys’s side into the field. New Media Broadcasters broke it down with head coach Dennis Murphy and he said his teams still didn’t execute at the level that they’re capable of, but said to have this many Ponies able to compete at state is a tremendous achievement.
“Getting eight of our nine (players) into the state meet is really rewarding,” Murphy said. “Certainly, we would’ve loved to have had all nine of us make it, but it didn’t work out that way.”
“We didn’t probably play as well as we had liked to have, but based upon the conditions, played well enough to get there,” Murphy continued. “That’s what tournaments are when you have an advancement tournament, which the divisionals is.”
“To fulfill those requirements was really good and really rewarding,” Murphy said.
There are two more rounds to go in the 2024 Havre golf season with the pinnacle being played in Polson this weekend. Murphy said the conditions will be perfect because the team is going over the continental divide to play in the western part of the state and also outlined how to attack the course itself.
“First of all, going over to the west, it’ll be a little bit different in the sense it’s going to be cooler,” Murphy said. “Last weekend (in Laurel), it was near 90 degrees for our divisionals. The west is going to be in the 70s, which are perfect conditions to play golf in.”
“The course itself is a little bit different than what we’ve seen,” Murphy continued. “We’re going to be dealing with a little bit more water hazards that we don’t often see over on the eastern side.”
“The championship course is kind of intertwined in between houses and what not, so that’s a little bit different for our players,” Murphy said. “They’ll adjust. The main thing is to hit (the ball) in the fairway and get it on the green and get it in the cup.”
Pony golf will get a practice round on Thursday in Polson before the state tournament begins on Friday and runs through Saturday.
