Photos by MIKE WEBER

Burns’ Kendall Theall (girls team) putts on the green during a tournament held Mar. 24 at The Dalles Country Club.

by Mike Weber
for Burns Times-Herald

The Burns Hilander boys and girls golf teams opened their Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 schedule and played in their first tournament of the season Mar. 24 at The Dalles Country Club’s nine-hole course.

The Hilander boys squad had an absolutely fabulous performance, winning the seven-team tourney with a first-place score of 442.

With only three participants, the Hilander girls squad was not eligible for a team score because they were one golfer shy of the required number of competitors.

“It’s the first tournament for all of us, and since we have lots of snow in Burns, I’m just happy that the kids are coming out here and hitting the ball finally,” longtime (21 years) Coach Scott Smyth said. “I’m sure we’ll see them improve a lot more too when we get better weather. This is actually the first time that they’ve seen grass this year.”

The boys squad was led by freshman Colton Miller, who shot a solid score of 101 in his first-ever Burns High School tournament. Miller took second place individually, behind medalist Wyatt Browne of the Riverside High Pirates, who shot a remarkable score of 83.

“I had an absolutely great time in the first tournament of the season,” Miller, whose personal best score is 91, said. “It was kind of windy and cold here, but it’s better than our golf course at home, which has 2 feet of snow on it now. I thought I did pretty good, considering it’s my first high school tournament, and I’m the youngest player on our team. I’m really looking forward to the season. I think I’ll continue to improve, and I hope to qualify for the state tournament (in May).”

The Hilanders also had solid first-place team scores from Kempton Richardson (107) and Ryan Glascock (114), who both shot personal best scores. Grayden Martinak shot a 120, and Lars Hagbom rounded out the Hilanders’ five-team squad with his noncounting score of 141.

“Colton shot really well, and I’m super surprised and happy with his performance in his first tournament ever,” Smyth said. “Our girls team has three kids in their first year of golf. I’m really happy with all the kids who came to the tournament. Some of them were disappointed with their scores, but it was the first time playing in a tournament for some of the kids, so we had a good start to our season. We’ll see what we can do when we get our full team together.”

Burns has a total of five golfers on the girls team, and there are 12 golfers on the boys team. The Hilander girls squad consisted of twin sisters, Chloe (121) and Myah Rothwell (124), and sophomore Kendall Theall, who played nine holes and shot a score of 71.

“Kempton and Ryan both played on our team last year, and they’re both shooting better this year,” Smyth said. “Except for those two boys, all the other kids were all participating in their first-ever tournament today. We’re hoping to have all five members of our girls team at our next event.”

The Hilanders will play in their next golf tournament April 4 in Vale.