Idaho State golf: Lakeland, Hawks’ Roth lead 4A

Day one of the Idaho State 5A golf tournament wasn’t easy, and that goes for teams in contention as well as those well down the leaderboard.

Rocky Mountain’s boys shot 306 on a windy Monday at Avondale, good for a three-shot lead over five-time defending champion Eagle. Lewiston (314) is in third, Post Falls (328) sits in sixth and Lake City (340) is ninth.

“They stayed positive; they never let it get to them and that’s why we’ve been undefeated all year,” Rocky Mountain coach Mike McCrady said. “If you want to be the king, you have to take out the king. They all know they can do it (beat Eagle), but they know the course was the king today. It kicked everybody’s teeth in.”

Eagle junior Josh Gliege, the lone player to break par, shot a 71. Rocky Mountain freshman Carson Barry was 4-over at one point but battled back to card a 72. Lewiston’s Ben Gleason and Lance Ruddell had 76s to share eighth place. Post Falls’ Joseph Glenn shot a 77.

Highland had four girls shoot in the 80s, helping the Rams to a score of 345 and a 24-stroke 5A lead over Eagle and Idaho Falls. Coeur d’Alene (414) is seventh, followed by Lewiston (440) and Lake City (460).

Eagle’s Natalie Mullins and Idaho Falls’ Yedin Lui both shot 7-over 81s, one stroke in front of Timberline’s Katie Cudworth and Highland’s Payton Fehringer. Lewiston’s Sammi Jo Spring (84) is in sixth place.

“I’m proud of all of them,” said Highland coach Ty Pearson, who played Avondale “back in the day” at his state tournament. “I tried to let them know about the course and how we wanted to prepare for it.”

Lewiston shot seven strokes higher than its regional-winning boys’ score at Avondale a week ago. Post Falls was 17 higher.

“Obviously, it’s not what we were looking for but I know the boys did the best they could,” Trojans coach Maria Kostina said. “It’s a two-day tournament. I’m optimistic (for today). I know they won’t hang their heads and anything can happen in this game.”

McCrady can vouch for that. He watched one of his players miss a four-foot birdie putt that trickled off the green. The player ended up with a bogey.

“I would just watch them lip out putt after putt,” McCrady said. “The course is in great shape. The swirling wind changes things and then the pressure, tension. My team is young, very young and being out here in that kind of pressure is tough.”

Gliebe, who has committed to Texas A&M, had birdies at 1, 13, 16 and 18 to offset three bogeys.

“I just played solid. I tried to keep it inbounds. That’s the idea out here,” he said. “No penalty strokes.”

Rocky Mountain edged Eagle by two strokes to win districts last week.

“I like where we’re sitting,” Eagle coach Jeff Dunn said. “We didn’t play great but you can’t win it on the first day anyway.”

4A

Lakeland’s Preston Roth fired a 72 for the low round and the Hawks took the lead with a 306 at the Links. Twin Falls (309) is second, followed by Skyview (315).

Roth has a one-shot lead over Twin Falls’ Brady Nelson and Preston Nelson. Bishop Kelly’s Hunter Ostrom shot a 74. Lakeland’s Andrew Knight (76) is tied for sixth and Tyrel Derrick (78) is tied for ninth. Freshman Dylan Knight shot 37 on the back nine to finish with an 80.

“It was a rough day out there; we’re talking 20-mile-an-hour winds making the course difficult,” Lakeland coach Mario Maddy said. “Our boys went out and competed. Preston struggled a little bit with some three-putts but he fought back and made some birdies to get it back.”

Middleton’s girls (364) hold a six-shot lead over Twin Falls. Lakeland, led by Megan Cysewski’s 91, is in fifth at 397, one shot behind Canyon Ridge and three behind Bishop Kelly.

Bishop Kelly’s Kinsley Bonfilio shot a 78 for a two-stroke edge over Century’s Hannah Drake.

3A

Hogan Samuelson’s 79 at Twin Lakes helped the Kellogg boys into third place with a score of 343. Hayden Eckert had the low round with a 73 for first-place Buhl (309). Timberlake (397) is in eighth place.

The Kellogg girls, paced by Kaitlyn Miller’s 98, are in sixth place with a 465. Weiser (403) has a 14-stroke lead over Fruitland. Emmett’s Jessica Lyter shot an 83 to lead the individual race.

2A

The St. Maries boys opened with 351 for sixth place. Gavin McCarter led the Lumberjacks with an 83 at Bryden Canyon in Lewiston. Wallace (367) is 10th.

Aberdeen (330) holds a five-stroke lead. First-day leader Trey Smyer of Declo shot a 76.

St. Maries’ girls (454) are in fifth place. Bear Lake (406) holds down first place. New Plymouth’s Lacy Avera is six strokes in front after shooting an 80.