Golfers battle windy weather

The boys golf team finished third out of six teams at the Mt. View Invitational on Thursday, April 29.

They had tied for a fourth-place finish with Thurston at the Bend Summit Challenge three days earlier.

Crook County took first place at Awbrey Glen in Thursday's Mt. View Invitational Tournament with a score of 330. Bend High was runner-up at 340 and Sisters placed third at 346. Mt. View shot 367, Madras 386 and

La Pine finished at 420.

Aaron Simundson played very well and led the Outlaws with a 79. Simundson shot a 42 on the front nine and came back to finish five strokes better on the back with a 37. On the 18th hole (par 5) Simundson hit the ball out of bounds. Aaron took the two-stroke penalty and then chipped it in from 30 yards out for par and a great finish.

"It was a difficult day," said Coach Jeff Barton. "It was cold with 20 mph winds, but Aaron competed and showed mental toughness in the bad weather and had good tee shots all day long."

Cody Farr-Baenziger was consistent and shot a 42 on both the front and back nine for an 84. Jonathan Standen carded a 90, Jeff Fought a 93 and Zach Cummings rounded out the scoring with a 104.

"It was just a train wreck today," said Barton. "Last year we got snowed out on this course so the guys were not familiar with the course. They just had a bad day."

Three days earlier, Sisters tied with Thurston (344) for a fourth-place finish out of nine teams. Summit took first (305), Redmond second (317) and Cleveland and Central Catholic tied for third (319). Bend High shot a 351, Marshfield 354 and Mt. View 371.

Standen led the Outlaws with a 78. Jonathan was consistent at one or two over par until the last four holes of the round. The wind kicked up to 30 mph and Standen had trouble with the intense windy conditions. Simundson shot an 86 and Farr-Baenziger was one stroke back at 87. Cummings finished with a 93 and Fought carded a 95.

"We played against some of the top teams in the state," said Barton. "We were the smallest school there and I thought we beat the teams we should have beat."

The boys golf team were to play at Tokatee on Tuesday, May 4, and a day later compete at Broken Top in Bend.

On the girls' side, at Quail Run on Monday, April 26, both Stephanie Cole and Trish Erickson had good performances under cool and windy weather conditions. Cole shot a 44-42-86 and was the tournament medalist.

"Stephanie played very well today," said Coach Mary Flande. "She was able to keep her short game on track and she also putted very well today. She was able to birdie two par fives today sinking long putts on each hole. She's playing very consistent from week to week and was able to keep things together on a day that high winds made the golf game a little difficult."

Erickson carded a 61-56-117 to finish ninth out of a field of 29 golfers.

"Trish drove the ball very nice and once again improved her game on the back nine," said Flande. "She is working hard and getting better each week."

La Pine won the tournament with a team score of 463. Cottage Grove shot a 468 and Thurston shot 504. Creswell, Elmira, McKenzie and Sisters all had incomplete teams.

The Lady Outlaws will host the last match before districts at Aspen Lakes on Thursday May 6, at noon.