The Powell High School golf team got in two tournaments last week, playing in Lovell on Thursday and at Thermopolis on Friday. With both being nine-hole courses, competitors played through them twice.

In Lovell, the boys’ top four varsity players shot a combined score of 393, then followed that up with a 378 in Thermopolis. As a team, the Panthers finished at the bottom of the pack in both events.

“Lovell is also a course that can cause a lot of trouble if players are struggling with accuracy off of the tees,” PHS head coach Troy Hildebrand said. “A lot of players from all of the teams found their scores a little higher this week than last week in Worland but overall it was a great two days of golf to work on different aspects of their games.”

Senior George Higgins had the team’s best score on both days with a 93 in Lovell and a 78 in Thermopolis, the latter of which was good for fourth place.

“He did a great job of working through a tough stretch Friday and early Saturday,” Hildebrand said of Higgins. “His grit served him well this week.”

Isaiah Woyak, a freshman, posted a career-best on Friday with 94, and followed that up with a 103 in Thermopolis.

“He [Woyak] has done a great job of improving and managing his game over the six rounds we have played so far,” the coach said.

Another freshman, Gunnar Erickson, posted solid scores for the Panthers. He shot 107 on Friday and 93 on Saturday. Erickson “did everything he could” to break 95 for the first-time ever in Thermopolis, the coach said.

Freshman Andrew Jones posted scores of 105 and 113 and “continues to be pretty consistent and is doing a lot of things well,” despite a rough outing on Saturday.

After a day where he “didn’t get any breaks” and shot 146 in Lovell, senior Jacob Thiel posted his best round of the season, shooting 122 in Thermopolis.

Of the one-day players, senior Trevor Groves’ 101 ­on Friday — a career-best — was the top score. Hildebrand said, “He continues to improve and works hard each week to figure a few more things out.”

On Friday, sophomore Steven Stambaugh and senior Yogi Sullivan shot rounds of 108 and 121, respectively. Stambaugh “is a strong player and if he can get things put together down the stretch he could have a strong finish,” Hildebrand said, and Sullivan “is a player that is hitting the ball a lot better than he is scoring right now.”

Junior Brandon Wentz shot a 104 on Saturday and was in position to break 100 before a couple of rough holes toward the end. Seth Siebert’s 116 was one of his best rounds and “was a real positive sign to see from him,” the coach said.

And freshman Will Jackson shot a 120, which was a sharp improvement from his first round at the Cody HS Invite.

Saturday was also the first event of the season for Powell’s girl golfers: senior Maddi Hackenberg and sophomore Jasmin Simonson.

Hackenberg, a senior, finished the round in Thermopolis with a 130. Hildebrand said, “She is new to tournament golf but really handled Saturday well,” the coach said. “She will be able to build on this experience Thursday in Buffalo.”

Simonson shot a 173 in Thermopolis. This was her second time playing on that course, and she “definitely did some things better this time around” and “will continue to work an all aspects of her game moving forward,” Hildebrand said.