LaDeaux heads to state competition
BIGFORK – Most of the Plains High School golf team concluded their season on Monday May 12, at the divisional tournament but one golfer will be attending the State Tournament in Fairmont.
Jade LaDeaux of Plains will head to the golf course at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, the location of this year’s State Tournament, after shooting a 107 in the Division 3 tournament at Bigfork.
The top 15 boys and girls from the Division 3 event will join student athletes from across Montana at the Fairmont tournament.
After 18 holes on Monday LaDeaux finished her round with a 107, four strokes below the cut.
Plains Head Coach Rich Magera noted there would be a practice round held in Fairmont on Monday May 19.
The practice round will give the golfers a chance to get familiar with the course, giving them some crucial preparation time before the final tournament of the golf season.
Magera added the tournament itself would take place over the course of two days, with the first round on Tuesday May 20, and the final round on Wednesday May 21.
The Plains boys placed eleventh at the tournament with a combined team score of 465 strokes.
Though no members of the boys were able to slip into the top 15 of the field, Coach Magera was still positive about their season.
“We had a bunch of new golfers this year and there was a lot of improvement from them,” Magera said.
The coach was impressed with the number of strokes many members of the team were able to knock off their scorecards through the course of spring season.
With only a couple holdovers from past seasons on this year’s squad, the boys of the current team learned a lot over the season and will have the experience necessary to compete when spring rolls around next year.
After a string of tournaments in foul weather, the golf team ended their year under better conditions, and hopefully the state tournament in Fairmont will receive some of the sunshine that has become more common in Sanders County.
The Fairmont course is an 18 hole par 72, and has a fifth hole that many golf enthusiasts consider the most challenging set-up in the state, with a total distance from tee to pin at 649 yards.
The third hole is also notable with a green boasting a three-tiered 10,000 square foot putting surface, making it the largest green in the state.
Student golfers from across the state will certainly have an impressive backdrop to their final rounds of the year as the 2014 high school golf season comes to a conclusion and LaDeaux may be in the running for a top spot.