Chiefs improve their play at own invitational

MOSES LAKE — In a period of 72 hours the Moses Lake High School girls golf squad showed the kind of improvement coach Lonny Brown was hoping for.

Behind the first ever sub-100 score by Vanessa Goodwin, the Chiefs wrapped up 12th place at the Moses Lake Invitational at the Moses Lake Country Club yesterday.

“I was pretty happy with that since there was a lot of quality golf there,” Brown said. “I believe we represented ourselves really well out of the 16 teams that were entered.”

Goodwin scored a 45 over the first nine holes of the par 71 course and continued to build on the expectations the Chiefs had for her.

“You know she really played really well,” Brown said. “She hit the ball off the tee real well. She was really pleased with the result. She’s always good around the greens with her putting and her chipping. She’s still working on her mid-iron game and really needs to focus on it. But it was a big step to finally break a score like that. She can be the girl who can score consistently around 90.”

Kristi Brown hit a 115 for Moses Lake, while teammates Jacy Jones (120) and Jeanie Loshak (138) rounded out the Chiefs scores on the day.

“Christy played her first 18 holes ever and she’s improving on all parts of her game,” Lonny Brown said. “She had a few problems chipping today and told me she would work on it more. Jacy still needs to work on a few things and we will get things right. Jeanie still had some problems around the greens, but both these girls showed improvement.”

Moses Lake’s final team score was 201 in the best-ball event.

The other Columbia Basin-area squad at the Invitational was Othello, which finished sixth with a team score of 179.

Richland won with a 151.

Othello’s Paulie Garza ended up tied for ninth with a 93, Devyn Olsen scored a 94, good enough for a tie for 12th place, while Carolina Borba finished with a 107 and Delaney Towle ended with a 111.

Hanford Invite results

RICHLAND — Girls’ golf began in earnest at the Hanford Invitational at Richland’s Horn Rapids Golf Course and the four Columbia Basin teams that entered brought home a various collection of results on Friday.

Ephrata recorded a team score of 298 on the Par 72 course, good enough for an area-high best seventh place finish.

Othello scored 314 (11th place), Warden finished with a 339 (15th place) and Moses Lake ended the day with a 348 (16th place).

Scores consisted of a tabulation of two 18-hole results and two nine-hole ones during a tournament which by all accounts played in extremely adverse weather conditions.

Ephrata was led by Skyler Key’s 18-hole score of 97 while Kelsey Sage finished with a 100.

Megan Criss (53) and Allie Duff (54) were the Lady Tigers’ nine-hole scorers.

“I was very happy with their scores,” Ephrata coach Heidi Burns. “It was a very windy day with at least 40 MPH winds. The wind made it hard to control the flight of the ball. With that being said, Skyler and Kelsey had their best round in a match ever. All the girls said their scores would have been lower if it wasn’t for the wind. We are off to a great start of our season.”

Moses Lake’s Goodwin led the Chiefs with a score of 100 over 18-holes, while Jones finished with a 120.

Brown’s 56 and Loshak’s 72 also went toward the team score.

“The weather was crummy especially for the girls who played 18 holes when the rain came through,” Lonny Brown said. “Vanessa hitting 100 was pleasing and she came close to breaking 100 for the first time. The weather got to Jacy a little bit, and I was pleased with Christy’s 56. We did some nice things but we can definitely improve.”

Othello’s score consisted of results from Olson (98 over 18 holes), Garza (103 for 18), Towle (56 for 9), and Skylar Haakinson (57 for 9).

Coach Myrtle Voss saw Lady Cougars, Laura Crow and Carter Marks score 106 and 113 over 18-hole performances, while Taylor Edson and Hayley Buck each scored 60s in nine holes.

“I thought they played well,” Voss said. “The elements were horrid with it being cold and windy but we missed the rain thank goodness. We had two girls step up and play well with Laura’s and Carter’s scores. I like that they know they can play a tough course in bad weather.”