McConnell leads Match Play tourney
Rachel Shaver/Daily Inter Lake<br>Chris McConnell, from Billings, hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during Thursday's qualifying round of the Montana State Match Play Championship at Eagle Bend Golf Course in Bigfork.
The Daily Inter Lake
Chris McConnell of Billings shot a 1-under-par 71 at Eagle Bend Golf Club Thursday to earn the top seed in the Montana State Men's Amateur Match Play Championships.
Four players turned in 72s - Woody Spainhower of Bozeman, Shawn Tucker of Whitefish, Mike Rider of Manhattan and Josh Hedge of Billings - to earn the Nos. 2-3-4-5 seeds, respectively.
Last year's champ, Chris Haas of Bozeman, shot a 79. He is seeded 18th.
Last year's runner-up, Ron Ramsey of Bigfork, turned in a 5-over par total of 77. He is seeded 13th.
The top 32 seeds are in the championship flight. There are 51 golfers competing.
Match play begins this morning with No. 1 McConnell facing Seth Enes of
Missoula. Enes, the 32nd seed, shot 85 Thursday.
The 16 morning winners remain in the championship flight. The 16 losers drop down to the consolation bracket called the president's flight. Both the championship and president's flights play another 18-hole match in the afternoon.
Losers in both flights are then eliminated.
The tournament winds up Sunday.
Montana State Men's Amateur Match Play Championships
Eagle Bend Golf Club
Bigfork
Par 72
Chris McConnell, Billings 71
Woody Spainhower, Bozeman 72
Shawn Tucker, Whitefish 72
Mike Rider, Manhattan 72
Josh Hedge, Billings 72
Kelbi Lee, Billings 73
William Foust, Ronan 74
Logan Ward, Missoula 75
Bryan Lytle, Bozeman 75
Jeff Dalton, Helena 75
Adam Hober, Missoula 76
Rick Reimers, Missoula 76
Ron Ramsey, Bigfork 77
Cory Slocum, Missoula 78
Nick Schwinden, Helena 78
Derek Denning, Whitefish 78
Bennett MacIntyre, Helena 79
Chris Haas, Bozeman 79
Spencer Hughes, Whitefish 80
John D. Campbell, Bozeman 80
Ken Barkus, Kalispell 81
John Marshall, Billings 81
Conor Keenan, Bigfork 82
George Mahoney, Polson 83
Bill Nowlen, Frenchtown 83
Steve O'Neil, Bozeman 84
Rick Remitz, Bozeman 84
Blu Funk, Bigfork 84
Bruce Little, Bozeman 85
Chris Richter, Bigfork 85
Greg Betthauser, Kalispell 85
Seth Enes, Missoula 85
Tyler Holtet, Whitefish 85
Jacob Knutson, Bozeman 85
Kristopher Shampeny, Manhattan 86
Stan Hill, Norris 87
Alex Erlenbush, Bozeman 88
John Cupit, Bozeman 89
James Moore, Whitefish 91
Terry Click, Kalispell 91
Jason Kinsey, Glendive 91
Orville Erlenbush, Bozeman 92
Bob Keenan, Bigfork 92
Cody McBride, Shelby 93
Dr. Tony Popp, Kalispell 94
Len Ward, Billings 94
Ben Engler, Missoula 94
Roy Stanley, Lakeside 95
Tim Roy, Missoula 95
James Jones, Missoula 98
Wade Coplin, Stevensville 102
Kiel Duckworth, DNS
Championship Flight Matches
Today
Chris McConnell vs. Seth Enes
Derek Denning vs. Bennett MacIntyre
Logan Ward vs. Bill Nowlen
Brian Lytle vs. George Mahoney
Mike Rider vs. Bruce Little
Ron Ramsey vs. John Campbell
Josh Hedge vs. Blu Funk
Rick Reimers vs. Ken Barkus
Woody Spainhower vs. Greg Betthauser
Nick Schwinden vs. Chris Haas
William Foust vs. Steve O'Neil
Jeff Dalton vs. Conor Keenan
Shawn Tucker vs. Chris Richter
Cory Slocum vs. Spencer Hughes
Kelbi Lee vs. Rick Remitz
Adam Hober vs. John Marshall