Warriors finish second in Powell

WORLAND - The Worland Warrior golf team opened their season with a second-place finish at the Park County Shootout on Aug. 11-12 at the Powell Golf Club.

The Warriors shot 345, 353-698 and finished second behind Lovell, who shot 348, 343-691.

Winning the boys individual tournament was Warrior Landen Gilmore. The senior shot a 78-77 to finish first. Gilmore was joined in the top 10 by teammates Jackson Dunham, who finished sixth (90-81), and Tyshon Swalstad, who finished ninth (83-90).

Sam Keller cracked the top five for the Lady Warriors, finishing fourth with a score of 105-111.

"The kids played pretty well," said WHS golf coach Ben Hofmann. "I thought Landen was really good. He shot a 78-77. That's a good start for him. If we're going to be successful, we need him to shoot in the 70s. Sam [Keller] played pretty well this weekend. Jackson had a really nice bounce back. He didn't play well Thursday but played much better on Friday. Tyshon was the opposite. He played well on Thursday but not so well on Friday. Consistency might be something we need to work on, but overall, I was really pleased with the effort from the kids this weekend."

With only three practices before last week's season-opening tournament, the short game was the focus for Worland. Limiting the number of three-putts and effective chipping were the goals in Powell.

The Worland golfers work on their short game paid off, as many of them limited the number of three-putts they had for the weekend.

"Landen chipped and putted well. He had one three-putt on the weekend, and that's what you have to do. Those Powell greens are significantly up and down than what we have at ours. Jackson struggled with putting last year but looked much, much better last week. Everybody else was where you wanted them to be.

"We tried to eliminate the three-putt as much as we could. There are some greens in Powell where it's going to take two really good putts to get home, but more likely, it's going to be three," said Hofmann. "Overall, I was really pleased. We've still got work to do, but it was a good start."

Getting into tournament condition is another thing for some of the Worland golfers to work on over the next few weeks.

"Tournament shape, we forget, when we play, we're out on the cart all day, and we might get a little tired. For the kids, they're having to tote their clubs in 90-degree weather on both days. And there are some good climbs out on the Powell course. It's taxing, and there is some shape that needs to be get into. It's not running shape, but there is some conditioning involved," said Hofmann.

Worland had a quick turnaround before their next tournament in Cody on Tuesday and Wednesday. With one day of practice before the tournament, the experienced Worland golfers worked on areas of their game that they noticed needed work in Powell. The newer Worland golfers got some lessons with Green Hills Golf Pro Donnie Bjorhus.

"With the older players, we talked about some things that needed to be worked on and what they wanted to address. We give them a little bit of trust whether it's their short game, irons or driver. I know Sam wanted to work on her driver to start the week," said Hofmann. "The younger guys got a lesson with Donnie Bjorhus, and he's been invaluable. With school starting up this week, we had our younger golfers go up for group lessons with Donnie in the morning."

Results from the Cody Invitational were not available before publishing.