Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney sophomore Tyler Miller punches out of trouble on the ninth hole during the Chadron Tournament at Ridgeview Country Club on Thursday.
Freshman Garrett Wamsley walks up the final hole at the Chadron tournament last Thursday.
Taylor Barton hits a short iron into the ninth hold during the Chadron tournament last Thursday.
Freshman Brett McConnell of Sidney High School chips up to the ninth hole during the Chadron tournament last Thursday.
Brett Westfall, a Sidney High School freshman, lines up a putt during Thursday’s Chadron tournament at Ridgeview Country Club.
The Sidney Raiders golf team placed second of six teams in a match held at Ridgeview Country Club in Chadron last Thursday.
Scottsbluff took top honors with a combined score of 314 while Sidney’s score of 346 was one stroke better than host Chadron.
The Raiders were led by senior Taylor Barton with an 80, while freshman Ryan Birner came in at 84. Brady Radcliffe (89), Garrett Wamsley (93) and Brett Westfall (94) completed the varsity scoring for the Raiders.
Sidney was also able to bring a junior varsity squad to Chadron. The JV team was led by Drew Williams with a 99 and Caleb Brown at 101.
“Finally we’ve had a match where there was no snow, no cold and no wind,” said Sidney head coach Chuck Christensen. “This is by far the best weather we’ve seen all season.”
The picture-perfect day that greeted the teams in Chadron included calm winds, sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s.
Despite the beautiful weather Christensen expects the team is far from playing its best.
“Considering the cancellations and lack of practice we played reasonably well,” Christensen said. “I am especially pleased with the progress of our freshmen.
“But I think the worst of the weather is behind us now. We will be practicing every day now and I expect we’ll see big improvement the rest of the year,” added Christensen.
Barton, the team leader and only senior, has shown signs of better play this year. In the Raiders’ first match he shot 76. More recently, he scored an even-par 36 over the first nine holes at the Wild Horse Golf Course in Gothenburg amidst 33-plus mph winds last Wednesday.
As for his round Thursday, Barton used his driver only six times while preferring to use irons off many of the par 4’s.
“Almost every hole out here has out-of-bounds on the right and I’m not really consistent with my driver right now,” said Barton. “The holes here are pretty short too so hitting driver wasn’t always necessary.”
Freshman Ryan Birner had a strong round with an 84. Birner, a product of the Sidney Country Club junior program, is a big reason why Christensen is so high on his freshman.
As for Birner’s solid play, “I had a good day putting,” he said.
The Raiders will be at Mitchell tomorrow and at Gering on Thursday.
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