Good weather for two days mixed with strong competition helped the Powell Panther golf team establish a baseline at its home tournament Thursday and Friday, kicking off the shortest high school sports season at the Powell Golf Club.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Trey Scott, posting rounds of 86 and 89 to tie for 23rd.

“Trey was able to play quite a bit of golf this summer and it was great to see him post two rounds in the 80s to start this season,” coach Troy Hildebrand said. “He was an All-Conference player as a sophomore and this start is just what he needs to propel him towards a great fall.”

Just behind Scott is a new face to the Panther team, freshman Cody Fisher.

Fisher posted rounds of 91 and 93 to finish 36th in his first high school tournament, with Hildebrand noting that Fisher has played a lot of golf prior to coming into high school and was able to keep his composure to avoid any large mistakes in his first tournament.

One stroke behind Fisher in 37th was Gunnar Erickson, posting rounds of 91 and 94.

“Gunnar is coming off a bit of a hand injury late in the summer so I was really happy to see him just be able to get out there and get a couple of rounds in,” Hildebrand said.

In 39th place overall was Jackson Hill, who posted a strong first round 88 before a difficult Friday finish at 100.

Hildebrand said that a difficult start on Friday derailed Hill’s round but he did a nice job of battling through the second round to show his growth in his mental game heading into his junior season.

Rounding out the top five for the Panthers was Isaiah Woyak, who finished with rounds of 96 and 94 to finish tied for 40th.

“Isaiah wasn’t able to play a lot of golf this summer but he did come out and post two decent rounds that give him a baseline to work from and a couple of areas that he can improve on,” Hildebrand said.

The final three varsity players for the Panthers included Andrew Jones with a 106 and 93 to tie for 46th, Parker Williams with rounds of 103 and 102 to finish 49th and Will Jackson with rounds of 103 and 104 to finish 50th.

The Panther girls had a strong first weekend, with both golfers posting a 208 over the two days to tie for 17th.

Coy Erickson posted a 107 the first day before an improved 101 the second day helped her post her personal best round to date.

“She showed great growth last year and this tournament is a great sign of things to come for her this fall,” Hildebrand said. “These scores are about a 25-stroke improvement from her first ever tournament in Powell last year.”

Freshman Emery Hernandez had two consistent days, finishing with rounds of 105 and 103 in her first high school tournament.

“Emery really stayed calm and was able to avoid any major mistakes in the tournament, and I am really looking forward to her growth this season,” Hildebrand said.

The boys had three junior varsity golfers who were able to compete one day each, with Jace Harris posting a 119 on Thursday, and Trey Peterson alongside Tucker Robinson posting rounds of 121 and 129 respectively on Friday.

Varsity team scores placed the Panther boys seventh out of nine teams in attendance which included three 4A teams alongside 2A Thermopolis.

“As a team we had a few bright spots and we posted a score that we can work to improve from over the next five weeks as we head towards the state tournament,” Hildebrand said.

Lander won the team title with a 634 over two days, and Sheridan’s Garrett Spielman won the individual title with rounds of 74 and 73.

The Sheridan girls won the team title by 47 strokes with a 514, and Lovell’s Erika Cook won the individual title with rounds of 72 and 73.

The Powell girls along with four other teams did not post a team score as teams need three golfers to post team scores.

CODY INVITE

The early season blitz continues on Tuesday (today) with the Panthers making the short trip to Cody to take part in its invitational.

That tournament is scheduled to start at noon Tuesday and will continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Powell will then take the weekend off before heading to Thermopolis next Monday and Lovell next Tuesday.