A short break after the opening tournament of the season at home allowed for the Powell Panther golfers to get their feet under them at the second tournament, making the short trip to Cody last Tuesday and Wednesday to compete at Olive Glenn Golf Course.

The boys team finished fifth out of nine teams, as the Lander boys won the team competition by 15 strokes and Riverton’s Brodie Dale finished with the individual title by four strokes.

Improvement started at the top, with Jackson Hill finishing 14th for the Panthers — propelled by a strong opening round 81 followed by a 90 in the second round.

“Jackson put a lot of time in at the course this summer and Tuesday’s 81 was exactly the type of golf that we are hoping for from him,” coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Hildebrand said Hill had a tough start Wednesday, but played a consistent back nine to salvage a 90.

Just behind Hill and maintaining his consistency from the first weekend was Trey Scott, who finished with an 86 and 88 to finish tied for 18th — all four of his first rounds have been between 86-89.

Hildebrand said Scott has been the most consistent player, and is just a couple of small adjustments away from going under 85 consistently.

Behind Scott in third was Gunnar Erickson, who recovered by 10 strokes from an opening day 97 to finish with an 87 and take 26th overall.

“Gunnar was able to put together a second round Wednesday that is much more like what he is used to shooting,” Hildebrand said. “He is working hard on a couple areas of his game and that 87 should give him a boost of confidence.”

Tied for fourth on the team were Andrew Jones and Will Jackson, who had a pair of 192s to finish tied for 30th.

Hildebrand said Jones played a strong front nine 40 the first day to propel him to a 90, before a difficult Wednesday pushed his second round to a 102.

Hildebrand said the front nine Tuesday showed the potential for Jones
moving forward, and he expected Jones to play with more confidence in the next couple of events.

Jackson posted rounds of 95 and 97, improving from the opening week and showing bright spots in both rounds — the type of golf Jackson expects from himself.

Hildebrand said gaining consistency will be key for Jackson to break into the 80s over the coming weeks.

Just one stroke behind with a 193 was Cody Fisher, who finished with rounds of 93 and 100.

“Cody had a solid first day in his first ever round at Olive Glenn. He hit the ball just fine in his second round but he wasn’t able to find the speed on the greens and really struggled with his putting,” Hildebrand said.

Finishing 33rd for the Panthers was Parker Williams, who had two consistent rounds of 98 and 97.

Hildebrand said that Williams has improved each round this year and he has consistently played his best golf in Cody.

Rounding out the varsity squad was Isaiah Woyak, who finished with rounds of 101 and 100 to finish in a tie for 35th.

“Isaiah hit a number of great shots in Cody, but he struggled to string together a bunch of good holes and had a few too many penalty strokes this week,” Hildebrand said. “He’s an experienced player and I know that he will bounce back by cleaning up just a few things.”

On the girls’ side there was also improvement, with Emery Hernandez sneaking into the top 10 and finishing ninth in her second tournament as a Panther.

She had rounds of 100 and 104, and Hildebrand said it’s just a matter of time before she breaks 100.

“She is doing a lot of things very well and it is only a matter of time until she is breaking 100,” Hildebrand said.

A difficult finish on the second day had Coy Erickson finishing in a tie for 15th, but still showed improvement in her second year with rounds of 106 and 115.

“Coy had a tough finish to her round Wednesday, but these scores are a huge step forward from last fall and she has a great attitude about working hard in practice to keep figuring things out,” Hildebrand said.

Lovell’s Erika Cook won her second tournament in a row, finishing with rounds of 69 and 66 — with the second day 66 being a women’s course record at Olive Glenn.

Riverton took the team title by eight strokes over Lovell.

“As a group we played a little better than we had the first week and some players made a nice step forward,” Hildebrand said.

Powell had three competing only on Tuesday on the boys’ side, with Tucker Robinson shooting a 117, Trey Peterson a 124 and Renzi Matthews a 128.

The early season blitz continued on Monday, with Powell making the trip to Thermopolis for one round.

It is set to continue today (Tuesday) with a round in Lovell at Foster Gulch Golf Course.

Powell will then take just over a week off, before heading to Buffalo for an invitational on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

That will be the final invitational for the Panthers before the conference tournament in Green River.