Panther Boys capture title by 27 strokesThe Powell High School golf team brought home team honors at the Thermopolis invite last Friday. The Panthers fired a team score of 334 to easily finish at the front of the nine-team field, 27 strokes better than Riverton. Bowen Prestwich was the top individual medalist after carding a 2-over round of 72 that included a stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie midround.

“He worked very hard on his short game last week and it really seemed to pay off on Friday,” said Panther golf coach Troy Hildebrand.

Brian Morse added a fourth-place finish with a round of 80 while Cameron Nielson had his second top 10 finish of the spring with a round of 88, good for ninth-place.

“Brian didn’t hit the ball as well as he normally does but did a great job of continuing to grind throughout the round and post another top 10 finish,” said Hildebrand. “This was Cameron’s second straight top 10 finish and I really believe that he will just continue to gain confidence the more he plays.”

Dillon Nix made his spring golf debut with a round of 94 while Zach Heny made his overall tournament debut, finishing with a round of 121.

“With the District music festival, we had some different combinations of players for the two tournaments as not everyone was able to make the trips this week,” Hildebrand said. “Zach was obviously pretty nervous to start out, but once he settled down, he put together a good second nine.”

Mikala Fulton carded a round of 120 as the only Panther girl to travel to Thermopolis.

On Saturday, the team traveled to Lovell, placing fourth overall with a 386. Hildebrand used the opportunity to give some younger players some tournament experience.

Jackson Roling’s round of 80 was the low 18 of the day and earned him the top individual honors.

“It looks like Jackson will be playing for Thermopolis next fall, so this tournament gave him a chance to see the Lovell course that will host the 2A state championshps next fall,” Hildebrand said.

Zach Kienlen added a round of 98 for the Panthers and was the only other golfer to break triple digits on the day. Cameron Nielson had a round of 100. Dillon Nix added a round of 108 and Zach Heny finished with a 127.

Mikala Fulton added a top 10 finish for the Panther girls with a round of 113. Fulton placed 10th overall.

“Mikala did a great job of really finishing strong on her back nine,” said Hildebrand. “It was great to see all of her time and effort rewarded with a top 10. I think this will likely be a springboard toward many future successes.”

The Panthers host their own invitational at 10 a.m. on Friday, then head to Buffalo on Saturday with a 9 a.m. start. The team wraps up its spring season on Saturday, May 5, in Cody.