SIDNEY INVITE GOLF TOURNAMENT: Red Raiders finish in 5th

After the conclusion of the Sidney Invite at Hillside Golf Course on Tuesday, the future of the Red Raiders may be as hard to see as was the No. 1 green through the dense fog that greeted the players at their morning tee times.

As the tournament was delayed a half hour by the fog, the Raiders finished in a disappointing tie for fifth in the varsity team competition. Despite the finish, there were a number of hopeful signs that suggest they could be able to compete with the top teams in their district by season's end.

With McCook's Noah Hoffman leading the way with a 71, the Bison took the team title with 327 strokes to edge out Scottsbluff (331). Rounding out the top five were Gering (339), Laramie (Wyo.) (346), Gothenburg (347) and Sidney (347). All but Laramie are teams the Raiders will have to compete with at districts at Hillside on May 18. The top three teams there qualify for state.

"Teamwise, it was extremely disappointing," said Raiders head coach Chuck Christensen. "We should be able to compete with McCook and Scottsbluff ... The thing is these kids have to know in their heads that they can go out and do it. We've got the talent out there, but I don't think that upstairs we have that down yet."

Sophomore Nate Dvorak led Sidney in scoring with a 79 despite finishing bogey, double bogey, double bogey. Dvorak earned a third-place medal behind Hoffman and Koy Pottoff of Scottsbluff, who finished with a 77. Ryan Birner had another solid round with an 83. Birner missed out on a medal in a scorecard playoff.

"(My finish) was really unfortunate because I was playing so well on the back," said Dvorak, who was even par on the back side through 15 and plus two on his round. "It would have been nice to finish with a few pars, but I'm not going to be extremely disappointed because I'm sitting pretty well."

In the junior varsity competition, Sidney's Montana Morrison earned top medalist honors with an 82 on nines of 40 and 42.

"We just got back from a trip to Arizona where we were playing a bunch of tough courses, and I was playing pretty well there," Morrison said. "After playing those tough courses and coming back to Sidney, it felt a lot easier. I felt much more confident today."

Besides Dvorak and Birner, the other Red Raiders varsity players included Brady Radcliffe (91), Connor Dormann (94) and Garrett Wamsley (108). Radcliffe and Dormann each showed signs of mid-season form on their front nines, but struggled on the back. Radcliffe fired a 41 on the opening side and Dormann a 40. While Wamsley struggled on both sides, he was one of the Raiders' best performers in the season's opening event in North Platte with an 87.

With Morrison earning top medalist honors for junior varsity, the Raiders' lineup for its next meet at Hastings next Thursday became even more unclear. Also posting solid rounds for the JV team were Jake Burke (94), Elliot Jones (95) and Cole Stiles (95). Burke was another with a "Jekyll and Hyde" round as he scored 43 on his front side.

"We have so much competition it's ridiculous," said Morrison, referring to the number of players capable of earning a varsity spot.

Added Christensen, "Beyond Nate and Ryan, I don't know who my 3-4-5 players are going to be next week."

The Raiders match at Hastings is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. MDT.

SIDNEY INVITE RESULTS

@ Hillside Golf Course, Sidney

(Par 36-36–72)

Team Scores

McCook 327

Scottsbluff 331

Gering 339

Laramie 346

Gothenburg 347

Sidney 347

Cozad 362

Chadron 379

Lexington 382

Alliance 389

Ogallala 397

Top 10 Individual Scores

Noah Hoffman, McCook 71

Koy Pottoff, Scottsbluff 77

Nate Dvorak, Sidney 79

Patrick Messersmith, Gothenburg 80

Brian McMahan, Lexington 80

Ryan Bellflower, Laramie 80

Brent Sell , Gothenburg 81

Grant Wrhel, Laramie 82

Alex Lupher, Gering 82

Jared Pilkington, Scottsbluff 83

Sidney High Varsity Scores

Nate Dvorak 38-41–79

Ryan Birner 40-43–83

Brady Radcliffe 41-50–91

Connor Dorman 40-54–94

Garrett Wamsley 58-50–108

Junior Varsity Individual Scores

Montana Morrison, Sidney 82

Riley Kort, Cozad 90

Frank Williams, McCook 93

Trae Heathers, McCook 94

Cole Westfall, Sidney 94

Jake Burke, Sidney 95

Cole Stiles, Sidney 95

Taylor Tjaden, Gering 97

Taylor Williams, McCook 102

Sidney High Junior Varsity Scores

Montana Morrison 40-42–82

Cole Westfall 44-50–94

Jake Burke 43-51–94

Elliot Jones 47-48–95

Cole Stiles 48-47–95

Jeremy Lawler 54-48–102

Joab Olsen 47-58–105

Brett McConnell 60-60–120

Seth McMillen 61-61–122