Over two days of golf the Powell High School golf teams finished strong across the board, as the Panther girls took third and the boys finished fourth at the Panthers’ home tournament at the Powell Golf Club on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ali Scott led the way for the girls, tying for seventh after posting a career best 94 on day one before a 97 on day two.

“She has played a good amount of golf this summer, and as we move through the next five weeks she will be a player that could easily drop into the upper 80s and low 90s consistently,” coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Just behind Scott in ninth was Emery Hernandez, who recovered from a day one score of 98 to post a 94 on day two.

“Emery had a solid start to her senior season and really did a great job on day one of battling to keep her round in the 90s,” Hildebrand said. “With her experience and toughness she will quickly play her way back down into the mid 80s and low 90s over the next few weeks.”

Third in for the Panthers was Maddie Croft, who tied for 17th after posting a first day score of 113 and a day two score of 108.

“Maddie got off to a very tough start on her first two holes of the week, but after holding on through that first nine holes she really came alive and played some very good golf over the final 27 holes,” Hildebrand said. “I am very excited to see her growth this season.”

In her second tournament ever, Grace Gordon placed 21st with a first day score of 124 and a second day score of 112.

“The 112 on day two is a great sign and she will continue to improve as she gets more tournament rounds and time on the course,” Hildebrand said. “Her competitiveness from softball is an asset for her as she did a nice job of hanging in there both days during any rough stretches.”

Hadley Gutierrez also competed in her first tournament, taking 24th with scores of 118 and 133 as the final Panther.

“Hadley is a freshman so this was her first ever experience with tournament golf and she stepped right in and played just fine for the team,” Hildebrand said. “She has some experience playing during the summers and that helped, but I thought she did a great job of keeping a positive attitude and really getting a good idea of what these tournaments are going to look and feel like.”

The Panthers posted scores of 305 and 299, finishing comfortably in third place as the highest 3A team by 83 over Worland in fourth.

Cody ran away with the team title with a 523, placing the top three golfers overall.

“This was a really good place for us to start the season as a team,” Hildebrand said. “The girls posted two solid days but they all could easily identify some areas that would allow them to kind of quickly lower their scores over the next couple of tournaments as we start to have some time to work on individual skills.”

Cody Fisher led the Panther boys, finishing a combined three-over for both days with scores of 74 and 73 to tie for third overall.

“Cody came in four years ago and battled his way onto the state team as a freshman and each year he has gotten better and better,” Hildebrand said. “He will do a great job of fine tuning his game over the next five weeks to be at his best in mid-September.”

Another top 10 finisher for the Panthers was Park Harvison, who tied for ninth after posting scores of 75 and 78.

“Park putting up two rounds in the 70s is a great achievement for him and also very important for our team this season,” Hildebrand said. “The true highlight of the weekend for Park from my perspective was his mental toughness on the second day. He had a very poor first hole and in the past he would have really let that bother him, but Thursday he did a great job of moving on and played the next 17 holes in two over par.”

Third for the Panthers was Xander Clark, who tied for 21st after posting scores of 83 and 89.

“These two rounds represent his lowest career tournament rounds and give him the perfect place to work from for his senior season. Xander has a ton of talent and his approach and disposition really help him be successful on the course,” Hildebrand said.

Kason Sherman was the fourth Panther, posting duplicate rounds of 93 to take 34th.

“I really feel like as he settles down into tournament golf over the next couple of weeks he will be a player that kind of quickly works his way down five-to-eight shots a round,” Hildebrand said.

In his first tournament, Kenny Parker Jr. was the fifth Panther on the scoresheet, as he finished with rounds of 98 and 93 to take 36th.

“Kenny was the only freshman that we had playing both days and he did an excellent job for his first tournament,” Hildebrand said. “He has quite a bit of experience on the golf course but this was his first true two-day tournament experience and I felt like he handled himself very well.”

Ryder Stewart finished sixth for the Panthers with rounds of 97 and 95 to take 37th.

“Ryder is a player that is just coming out of a long and successful baseball season so he hasn’t spent a lot of time playing this summer but he has a fair amount of tournament experience over the past two years,” Hildebrand said.

Tucker Muecke finished 40th with scores of 95 and 100 while Ostin Kolb tied for 49th with scores of 102 and 100 as the final Panthers scoring on both days.

A number of Panthers only got to play one round on each day, as Orin Leatherman-Onstine shot a 91, Huston Dearcorn shot a 97, Parker Clark shot a 98, Trey Schultz shot a 104, James Heny and August Teten each shot a 107, Gunner Sapp shot a 114, Charlie Arzaga shot a 115, Reece French shot a 119 and Knox Johnson shot a 120.

As a team the Panthers finished fourth with rounds of 325 and 333, just behind Cody in third with rounds of 331 and 323 while Lander held off Star Valley with rounds of 300 and 307 compared to 307 and 304 for Star Valley.

“Having three returners from state and a couple of other players with quite a bit of tournament experience allowed us to get off to a very nice start to the season,” Hildebrand said. “The guys that were able to play a lot this summer really came out of the gates well and their hard work in June and July showed for sure.”

The early season did not slow down for the Panthers, as they went on the road Monday and today (Tuesday) to take part in the Worland Invitational.

“It is a very big tournament right before more schools kick off so each team will only be able to bring 10 players,” Hildebrand said.

He said this tournament allows the Panthers to see some teams from the 3A East including Buffalo, Douglas and Wheatland.