While Powell High School’s golf team finished at the back of the pack at last week’s Worland Invite, the Panthers showed signs of improvement in their second event of 2021.

They were four strokes better than the opening tournament, posting a team score of 799 on the boys’ side at the Thursday-Friday event. This score put them seventh overall. 

“It was a slight improvement over week one, but hopefully our best golf is ahead of us,” PHS coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Sophomore Gunnar Erickson was once again the Panthers’ top finisher, posting a 90-99. Hildebrand said Erickson “is a really hard worker and he uses his competitive nature to improve his game each week” and is close to breaking into the mid-80s.

After a 103 to start the tournament, Isaiah Woyak rebounded with a 90 on Friday, making him Powell’s second-best finisher. “He finished last fall in the upper 80s and it looks like he is on his way back to that level,” the coach said.

Similarly, Andrew Jones struggled Thursday and posted a 108, but he played well Friday and shot a 93. He shot a 43 on one of his Friday nines, which is “exactly what we need from him for our team scores,” Hildebrand said.

Freshman Trey Scott played “consistent” golf both days, shooting 99-103. He struggled with different things on Thursday and Friday but did a nice job of keeping a positive attitude, allowing him to finish fourth for Powell.

Will Jackson went 111-116 and has shown real bright spots in his game recently, per Hildebrand. Going forward, the coach said Jackson’s focus will be to eliminate big numbers from his scorecard.

Junior Seth Siebert had his best round Friday, shooting a 110 after a 118 Thursday. He has a “solid swing and knows the game well enough to start shooting in the 90s at any point,” the coach said.

Parker Williams posted scores of 116 and 114, which were “right in line with his other tournament rounds so far this fall.” Hildebrand said, “Parker has a positive attitude and that is an important piece of playing good golf.”

Sam Johnston showed great improvement over the weekend, shooting 126-125, Hildebrand said, particularly noting Friday’s round.

Jackson Hill, a freshman, also played his first tournament, posting a 129-121. Hildebrand said he was “really impressed” by Hill’s efforts, shaving eight strokes off his Thursday score.

Eli Estes played Thursday in his first tournament of 2021, shooting a 131. The coach said Estes “is a smart kid that will keep working hard to get better.”

The Panthers had a girl compete for the first time of the 2021 season as well. 

Meg McDaniel went 117-116 in her first event for PHS. The California transplant “was consistent over the two days and she had some real bright spots,” according to Hildebrand.

“Meg [McDaniel] is a good competitor and she is very willing to learn new parts of the game and work hard to improve.”

The Panthers head to Big Horn County this week for a tournament in Lovell on Friday.

“We need to continue to improve around and on the greens as well as becoming more consistent,” Hildebrand said. “We need to be grinders that are mentally tough throughout each round and with that I think we will see better scores across the board.”