Golfers compete at Lander

The Hot Springs County High School Golf Team played in the Terry Berg Invitational at the Lander Golf Course last week. The Bobcats and Lady Cats were pitted against teams from nine area schools, including: Cody, Evanston, Jackson, Lander, Lovell, Powell, Riverton and Worland.

The Lander Golf Course sets at an elevation of 5,600 feet, making it one of the highest courses in the State of Wyoming. The course is open to the public, and covers eighteen holes. While the course is comprised of mostly open fairways, on generally level ground, coach Brandon Deromedi commented said, “The course plays more difficult that it looks, with lots of out of bounds areas that are really treacherous for anyone who plays with a slice.”

The Lady Cats finished in 5th place on the girls leader board, with a team score of 601 (292 and 309) for the two-day event. Lilly Johnson finished 9th, carding very consistent scores of 94 and 95, for a total score of 189 for the tournament. Madison Shaffer finished tied for 16th place at 198 and Ruth Needham finished 23rd with a total score of 214.

The Bobcats finished in 8th place – with a combined score of 708 – behind some very tough competition from Riverton (635), Evanston (639) and Lander Valley (640). Hayden Overfield turned in rounds of 76 and 74, to combine for a 3rd place finish at a very respectable 150.

Freshman, Trevin Shaffer, finished tied for 30th place at 178; Zerrian Stone came in tied for 41st Place with a score of 184; Hayden Johnson carded a total score of 188, to finish tied for 44th place; Ty Simeral finished in a three-way tie for 46th place at 189; Ian Locke finished in 52nd place at 192; and Van Epperson carded an even 200, to finish 58th in the tournament.

Overall, the teams played very consistently from day one to day two, with senior, Van Epperson, trimming eighteen shots off his day two round.

Coach Deromedi said, “Sometimes it’s not about having your best rounds. Sometimes it’s more about studying your play, and discovering how to best improve your play from round to round. It’s character building. Van’s effort is a good example. He struggled a bit on day one, but worked at it, and had a much better day two. A reduction of eighteen strokes is a great improvement, and not an easy thing to accomplish.”

Up next for the golfers will be the Worland Tournament on August 29-30, where the competition is not likely to lessen to any degree. Coach says he like the teams’ chances at Worland, as it is a more familiar course, and one that the team has had more opportunities to play.