Thompson Falls golf captures all-state honors

The Thompson Falls girls golf team came back from their state experience with some hardware at the Class B state golf tournament Tuesday through Thursday at Marias Valley Golf and Country Club.

The Lady Bluehawks finished 7th firing a 418 on day one and shooting a cumulative total of 858.

The main catalyst behind Thompson Falls’ 7th place finish was the performance of their No. 1 overall player Elsie Brown. Brown captured all-state honors shooting a 47 and a 44 to score an overall total of 91 after 18 holes.

Lady Bluehawks’ coach Mike Bates said Brown is just a “mentally tough” player.

“She played really well and held her own pretty tough,” Bates said. “She has been a really good No. 1. She is smart and able to handle herself out there. If things are going bad, she gets over it quickly if she has a bad hole. She’ll battle to the end and I have no complaints on how she played all year long.”

Bates said he felt his girls team performed “well” in the state tournament.

“There were a couple of girls that slid a little bit on their scores,” Bates said. “We were able to play better in the past. Every year our goal is to get through Divisional, take our chances at state, and hopefully, we have some good rounds. All and all, it was a pretty good tournament.”

Bates also said he felt Julia Vanicek and Jessica Bronner “played well.” Vanicek placed 26th and fired a 97. Bronner shot a 99 on the day.

“Jessica and Julia played pretty decent,” Bates said. “The second day, they slipped a few more strokes. It just wasn’t quite their day golfing and that will happen on the golf course. We are already waiting for next year when we are able to do it over again.”

Golfer Maggie Riddell, the Lady Bluehawks’ No. 4 golfer and only senior, finished 58th shooting 131 on the two-day event.

“This is the first year that they didn’t have a softball team and she took up golf and filled our team,” Bates said. “In the last three weeks, she has cut 20 or 30 strokes. I wish she would have been around a couple of more years because she would be a good one. She’s going to be missed on our team for sure.”

Beckman named all-state

Thompson Falls’ lone representative Dylan Beckman captured all-state honors with a 14th place finish Tuesday-Thursday at the Class-B state tournament at Marias Valley Golf and Country Club.

Beckman finished the round of 18 firing a cumulative total of 84. Beckman shot a 45 on the front nine and cut six strokes off his score on the back 9 to shoot a 39 on the second day.

“He hung in there and did the best he could,” Bates said of Beckman’s performance. “Dylan was on a hot streak shooting in the low-70s (coming into state.) All in all, I thought he had a good performance.”

Beckman, a junior, is part of a team that is coming back next season. Bates said next year will include some high expectations for the boys and girls teams.

“At state, there are usually 12 teams that play,” Bates said. “Probably ten of those teams are a threat and anything can happen at state. Whoever gets hot and plays really well will win. That is just the kind of the way it goes at state. You can have a bad day and it can all just collapse on you but all in all, the coaching staff is really happy.”

Bates said he felt his boys team “played well.”

“The boys are disappointed they didn’t make it to state but they are keeping up with their game, and Coach Gary Thompson and I are looking forward to next year,” Bates said.”