LHS golfers off to a solid start to begin season

The Lovell High School golf teams traveled to Powell last week to kick off their season at the 2024 Powell High School Fall Invite.

After completing 15 holes on Wednesday, the tournament was cancelled due to rain, so scores from Thursday were the only official results.

“I thought it was a very successful weekend for the most part,” head coach Dane Robertson said. “It is unfortunate that we don’t have enough girls to collect a team score.”

The duo of Kenley Wilson and Madalyn McCollam are the only girls for the Lady Bulldog golf team, and three scores are required to form team totals.

“Both of them shot personal bests,” Robertson said. “I was really proud of how they did.”

Wilson finished 14th with a total of 99 strokes, and McCollam wasn’t far behind after shooting 104 to come in at 17th.

For the majority of the boys, it was the first time they saw varsity action, and Robertson noted that he saw some good things from them.

Matthew Allen shot a PR of 88, as did Kaeson Anderson, who competed in his first round ever, as the pair finished in 37th place.

“I think Kaeson forgot that he was supposed to struggle through the low 100s and 90s at the beginning like everyone else,” Robertson joked. “He did outstanding.”

Kellan Jackson shot a 95 to come in 45th, Jacob Thomas finished in 53rd with a score of 98, James Blau shot 108 for 60th and Cove Jolley ended with a score of 117 for 67th place.

The boys totaled 369 strokes to finish ninth as a team.

Coach Robertson is optimistic about the fall season and feels like this group will continue to improve as the season goes on.

Both the girls and boys golf teams will be competing in Lander on Thursday and Friday, August 22-23.

Preseason predictions

“We have a much different look this season than we have the past few years,” Robertson said prior to last week’s start. “We graduated the mass bulk of our state team, and Matthew is the sole returning boys player that played at State and was consistently on the varsity squad.

“He has worked long and hard to groove his swing to where it is now, and it is looking primo. He should lower his scores pretty dramatically from the last fall and spring seasons.”

Robertson added, “It will be really fun for James and Jacob to get some varsity action and see how they stack up to the field as upperclassmen.

“Kellan Jackson has a great swing and can hit the ball a country mile. Kaeson Anderson is obviously an incredibly athletic kid, and that has easily translated into his golf swing. He can control his body movement well. I’m very happy to have him on the team.”

Shifting to the girls squad, Robertson noted, “For the girls, Kenley has also worked extremely hard this summer to lower her scores, and her swing looks grooved and ready to take on the field.

“We only have Kenley and Madalyn, so a team score isn’t in the deck, but individually they can do quite well in 3A this year.”