Billie Hamby photos The Lady Wranglers and Wranglers gather for a quick photo before competition begins at the Star Valley Invitational. Pictured, from left, are Elyn Bowers, Grant Carter (in front), Alex Gosar (in back), Dune Mecartney, Matthew Gosar, Decker Normington (in back), Braxton Costello, Owen McMillen and Brody Hamby. Junior Elyn Bowers, left, and senior Brody Hamby, right, broke into the top 10 in girls’ and boys’ varsity, respectively, at the Star Valley Golf Invitational.

STAR VALLEY – The 2023 fall high-school sports season officially kicked off last week with golf tournaments in several communities across the state, including the Star Valley Invitational on Aug. 9-10.

Nine athletes represented the Pinedale High School Wranglers and Lady Wranglers at the event hosted by Valli Vu Golf Course in Afton.

The Wrangler varsity boys came in fourth place posting a cumulative score of 663 over two days of competition. Pinedale beat out Rock Springs, the Star Valley “Gold” team, Kemmerer, Green River and Lyman.

Head Coach Luke Myszewski was “pleased” with the effort put in by the team at its first meet.

“The first day was especially good for us as all the varsity team members shot under 90,” Myszewski said. “I am pretty sure that is the first time Pinedale golf has ever had that happen. On the second day, a few bad habits showed up that dropped us back a bit, but overall, it was a fine first outing. Often the first tournament of the season is a great one to help us figure out what kinds of things we need to focus on improving for the season.”

With only one athlete playing for the Lady Wranglers at Star Valley, Pinedale did not place in girls’ varsity.

Senior Brody Hamby and junior Elyn Bowers both earned top 10 places in boys’ and girls’ varsity, respectively.

Hamby snagged fifth place in the boys’ division with a two-day score of 152. He shot 73 on the first day of competition followed by 79 on day two.

Bowers snapped up sixth place in girls’ varsity with an overall score of 184. She finished the first day with 85 strokes and tallied a score of 99 on the second day.

In boys’ varsity, freshman Braxton Costello completed both days with a cumulative score of 164, shooting consistently with 81 on day one and 83 on the second day.

Senior Owen McMillen shot 169 strokes after two days with 88 for the first round and 81 for the second.

Sophomore Decker Normington posted a two-day score of 179 on the leaderboard – 84 on day one and 95 on day two. Fellow sophomore Dune Mecartney totaled 182 strokes after both days with 87 followed by 95.