The Valley Club offered a distinct challenge for the 54 high school golfers who toured 18 holes Tuesday in a Fourth and Fifth District prep meet.
Wood River High School coach John Braafladt said, "The length makes The Valley Club one of the more difficult courses we play. But I also had one golfer say to me that he's never seen so many sand traps and water on a golf course.
"Plus, there are no parallel fairways, so if you slice a ball and it goes out-of-bounds, you are penalized."
All in all, The Valley Club was a good test for the 4A golfers from six schools, who were warming up the state-qualifying district tournament scheduled for Tuesday, May 10 at the site of this year's State 4A meet—Rupert Country Club.
Boys' medalist with a two-over-par 74 on the par-72 layout playing to 6,700 yards was Michael Konrad of Minico. The top girl was Emily Evans of Pocatello, who carded 80 on the par-72, 5,300 girls' course.
Braafladt was happy with the weather, saying it was the first "semi-nice weather we've had for a tournament." He was also pleased to have five boys out for a full team.
Two Wolverine golfers scored in the 80s—Cooper McCroskey with an 88 and Kyle Cole with an 89. "That's a good score for Kyle, and Cooper has been consistently in the mid-80s this year," said Braafladt.
Merritt Baldwin, competing in his first tournament, came up with a respectable 102. "It was good to have Merritt out," said his coach.
Two Wood River girls, Adrianna Maniere and Carrie Bloom, also played 18 holes. "Our two girls have been consistent all year, playing all the tournaments," Braafladt said.
Results from The Valley Club:
BOYS
Team standings (adding four low 18-hole scores of five team golfers): 1—Minico 305. 2—Pocatello 314. 3—Century 337. 4—Jerome 347. 5—Burley 354. 6—Wood River 375.
Boys' medalist: Michael Konrad, Minico, 74.
Minico—Michael Konrad 74, Mark Lloyd 76 (third low medalist), Philip Toolson 77, Brenner Antone 78, Chris Murdock 89.
Pocatello—Brady Fay 75 (second low medalist), Jordan Allen 78, Terrance Schwartz 80, Amund Evans 81, Zach Spain 88.
Century—Tyson Harding 80, Alan Malek 84, Jason Haskell 86, Kerry Hays 87, Jordan Myers 88.
Jerome—Zach Dietz 79, Nick Newbry 85, Nathan Cook 87, Kirby Long 96.
Burley—Sheldon Mallory 76 (third low medalist), Jeff Jones 89, Trevor Reno 94, Mike Boehmer 95, Nick Bame 96.
Wood River—Cooper McCroskey 88, Kyle Cole 89, Chase Thomas 96, Merritt Baldwin 102, Connor McNamara 103.
GIRLS
Team standings: 1—Pocatello 383. 2—Burley 393. 3—Jerome 399. 4—Minico 438. No team scores for Century and Wood River.
Girls' medalist: Emily Evans, Pocatello, 80.
Pocatello—Emily Evans 80, Kendra Farnsworth 94, Carly Armigo 104, Paige Farnsworth 105, Amanda Hanson 107.
Burley—Jessica Helms 95, Breeanna Pace 97, Stacie Davis 99, Kathryn Tilby 102, Jessica Brice 135.
Jerome—Jordan Burnham 83 (second low medalist), Christina Paulos 98, Kabina Montgomery 102, Baillie Meservy 116, Brittany Hiatt 117.
Minico—Kimaree Anderson 96, Kelsie Arritt 101, Abbie Haynes 114, Ainslee Gillette 127.
Century—Shelley Collins 91, Kari Herrick 104, Amy Wilson 118.
Wood River—Adrianna Maniere 114, Carrie Bloom 149.
