Magnificent finish for Morberg

Whitefish golfer overcomes 4-shot deficit on final nine

Dave Morberg rode an improbable four-shot swing on the 13th hole to a one-shot victory over Carroll Lilly on Thursday during the final round of the 52nd Annual State Senior Golf Championship Tournament at Buffalo Hill Golf Club.

Morberg closed with a 1-under-par 71 to complete the 54-hole event with a 9-under total of 205.

Lilly finished with a 73. He led the first two days of the tournament with rounds of 67 at Buffalo Hill and a 66 at Village Greens Golf Course.

Morberg, who began the day one-shot behind Lilly, birdied the par-4, 420-yard 13th hole while Lilly came away with a triple bogey. That tied the match with five holes to play.

"It was a fluke," Morberg said of Lilly's troubles at 13.

"I'm sure he's beating himself up over that, but I've lost leads just like that. It just leaves you shaking your head."

After Morberg birdied 14, Lilly answered with a birdie at 15 to even things up for a final time. The two Whitefish golfers then missed birdie putts on the par-3, 156-yard 16th hole.

Morberg moved in front for good when he dropped a six-to-eight foot putt on the 17th green for a birdie while Lilly had his par attempt lip out. That gave Morberg a two-shot edge heading into the final hole.

"It felt like 40 feet," Morberg said of that putt.

"I thought I lost it low. I wasn't going to hit it very hard."

But the ball caught the lip and dropped in.

"I wanted to drip feed it in," Morberg said of the putt.

"Not force it. I didn't want a three footer coming back."

Morberg capped off his round with a bogey on the par-4, 323-yard 18th hole while Lilly settled for par.

"I just hit the shots, played my game," Morberg said.

"I played aggressive when I thought the time was right."

The state senior title was the third for Morberg while Lilly was competing in this tournament for the first time.

"Just one bad hole," Lilly said.

"I made some really bad decisions. It cost me the tournament."

Lilly said he teed off on the 13th hole "choosing the wrong club."

And it only got worse.

"I used the wrong club into the green," he said.

Lilly then left a 35-40 foot putt well short and three putted the green.

Lilly still had a chance going into the final hole. He outdrove Morberg by 30 yards off the tee on the par-4, 323-yard hole. Lilly reached in two while Morberg need three shots to get on.

"I thought the ball would hit and run," he said of his chip shot.

"It didn't. It checked up."

That left him long and his birdie attempt was too strong.

Defending champ Tom Gai of Billings, 73-69-83-225, finished eighth overall.

Ron Ramsey of Bigfork, another former champ, finished third, 72-70-77-219.

Wayne Haines of Libby was fourth, 79-70-71-220, and Dave Cottington of Polson was fifth, 72-71-78-221. Haines won the sophomore division (ages 63-69).

John Dayries of Missoula won the junior title (70-77) while Les Barnes, 81, of Billings won the senior division (78-plus) for a fourth straight year.

And Kalispell's Bill Redmond, 75, shot his age on the final day of play. It was his best round of the event.

Next year's tournament will take place at the Butte Country Club and the Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda.

52nd Annual State Senior

Golf Championship Tournament

At Buffalo Hill & Village Greens, Kalispell

Final scores

Freshman (ages 55-62)

Flight 1

Dave Morberg, Whitefish 69-65-71-205

Carroll Lilly, Whitefish 67-66-73-206

Ron Ramsey, Bigfork 72-70-77-219

Dave Cottington, Polson 72-71-78-221

Mark Denton, Missoula 79-71-73-223

Thomas McNeely, Billings 76-72-76-224

Ed Miller, Billings 76-69-81-226

Chuck Thoennes, Belgrade 83-72-77-232

Ben Schmitt, Montana City 84-71-79-234

George Stern, Missoula 87-71-78-236

Barry Martin, Billings 84-80-81-245

George Geise, Great Falls 78-73-WD-WD

John Reeves, Helena 73-74-WD-WD

Flight 2

Johnny Ashcraft, Polson 77-70-84-231

John Tremain, Lewistown 79-71-82-232

Bruce Bales, Big Sky 85-71-79-235

Bill Ehresman, Huntley 84-73-79-236

Robert Cummins, Missoula 89-73-75-237

Jerry Jacobsen, Livingston 79-81-77-237

Bob Stolzenbach, Kalispell 78-79-81-238

Pat Darbro, Bozeman 83-81-78-242

Tom Heiman, Great Falls 79-82-83-244

Bill McLain, Bozeman 83-85-78-246

Ron Jovanovich, Fort Benton 88-79-87-254

Jim Dundas, Helena 87-84-87-258

Rex Tanberg Jr., Great Falls 89-81-92-262

Flight 3

Gary Rodman, Whitefish 82-76-74-232

Frank Thompson, Lewistown 82-76-79-237

Jerry Roff, Kalispell 80-80-78-238

Jim Burns, Livingston 78-78-83-239

Dean Wright, Billings 81-79-84-244

Frank Williams, Missoula 83-82-83-248

Dale Huffine, Lewistown 82-86-85-253

Dennis Davis, Fairfield 81-82-90-253

Dev Hill, Bigfork 90-75-91-256

Carl Swanson, Great Falls 82-89-90-261

Jerry Burns, Lakeside 88-87-87-262

Gig Tollefsen, Bozeman 93-84-87-264

Ed Casillas, Florence 97-84-86-267

Flight 4

Dan Little, Whitefish 79-80-76-235

Bob Sainsbury, Great Falls 80-80-84-244

Stormy Knight, Great Falls 83-77-87-247

Lynn Taskila, Great Falls 86-78-86-250

Dennis Sacry, Whitehall 81-88-82-251

Steve Johnstone, Havre 83-77-92-252

Dick Fisher, Fort Benton 85-81-86-252

Ron Vande Ven, Missoula 90-81-84-255

James Kozlik, Emigrant 82-85-94-261

William Price, Bozeman 87-85-90-262

Jim Anderson, Deer Lodge 95-84-83-262

Ed Hopfauf, Glasgow 92-84-90-266

Flight 5

Les Mahon, Colstrip 85-76-81-242

Ron Olson, Whitefish 83-82-80-245

Larry Peterson, Great Falls 83-82-83-248

Jerry Nix, Kalispell 81-85-82-248

Ralph Wetzel Jr., Billings 82-82-88-252

Sol Wright, Kallispell 79-90-90-259

Carmen Jensen, Chester 88-87-87-262

Alan Young, Elliston 94-82-87-263

John Erickson, Butte 93-89-81-263

Terry Racine, Browning 84-87-97-268

Jim Valentino, Bigfork 97-92-90-279

Mike Schmidt, Brady 91-91-99-281

Flight 6

Bob Goodan, Lewistown 88-84-81-253

Ed Venetz, Great Falls 80-86-91-257

Mick Cabbage, Great Falls 86-90-82-258

Dan Fredrickson, Butte 85-90-92-267

Rich Kingsley, Glasgow 90-86-94-270

John Tripp, Billings 90-89-93-272

Stephen Brehe, Helena 90-85-98-273

Rod Sundsted, Helena 84-92-98-274

Eugene Brosovich, Billings 87-93-101-281

Rob Porch, Missoula 90-96-97-283

Paul Johnson, Missoula 96-98-95-289

Roy Hamilton, Havre 99-96-98-293

Flight 7

Don White, Great Falls 82-92-82-256

Steve Pallister, Helena 84-84-88-256

Clark Broadbent, Helena 79-93-85-257

Earl Terwilliger, Great Falls 83-93-87-263

J.Mark Redfern, Lewistown 88-85-91-264

Joel Schmidt, Missoula 90-89-87-266

Wayne Garaas, Sidney 83-92-91-266

Tom Strizich, Kalispell 86-90-91-267

Mike Karns, Great Falls 87-94-89-270

Rick McClanahan, Lewistown 84-90-99-273

Dennis Fisher, Missoula 87-94-97-278

Ron Jupka, Great Falls 93-90-95-278

Flight 8

Kerry Culver, Kalispell 91-85-84-260

Bob Connaghan, Billings 88-87-87-262

John Douglas, St. Regis 85-91-87-263

John Kelly, Superior 77-100-95-272

Joe Shevlin, Helena 97-94-85-276

Tom Balzarini, Great Falls 93-92-96-281

Mel Zuidema, Great Falls 91-96-95-282

Vince Pons, Helena 92-103-92-287

Gerald Shinn, Whitefish 95-99-96-290

Charlie Delaney, Butte 101-99-97-297

Ken Mosby, Bozeman 99-111-88-298

Don Garberg, Kalispell 97-100-102-299

Robert Jones, Billings 108-101-96-305

Flight 9

David Peterson, Kalispell 92-84-88-264

Bob Shaw, Whitehall 92-94-91-277

Bob Burch, Kalispell 93-100-89-282

Don Marlenee, Scobey 100-97-93-290

Allen Sandbak, Billings 98-103-90-291

Keith Wilson, Billings 101-105-88-294

Dave Brownlee, Wolf Point 97-100-98-295

Allen Juel, Scobey 94-101-102-297

Tom Tucker, Helena 96-102-102-300

Glen Crosby, Livingston 99-102-99-300

Dale Enerson, Malta 109-97-96-302

Geo Johnson, Kalispell 97-111-101-309

Ben Kirschbaum, Plains 101-102-109-312

Flight 10

Ken Baird, Billings 95-94-88-277

Jim Culver, Glendive 95-101-94-290

K. C. Sullivan, Superior 94-104-97-295

Garland Shaw, Philipsburg 100-104-101-305

Dewey Nygaard, Missoula 102-106-97-305

Ed Hughes, Great Falls 109-111-103-323

Ben Danelson, Scobey 111-108-109-328

Roy Schmidt, Billings 114-114-105-333

Wayne Nelson, Livingston 105-113-115-333

Robert Whitehead, Colstrip 118-120-110-348

Rick Tucker, Helena 111-114-WD-WD

Sophomore (ages 63-69)

Flight 1

Wayne Haines, Libby 79-70-71-220

Tom Gai, Billings 73-69-83-225

Mark Nedrud, Missoula 75-78-74-227

Robert Laflen, Bigfork 76-72-83-231

Jim Schaible, Kalispell 82-74-78-234

Jim Thompson, Bozeman 80-75-79-234

Randy Brown, Ennis 77-76-82-235

Larry Schaefer, Scobey 79-75-81-235

Chuck Burdette, Wilsall 77-80-83-240

Jim Bryngelson, Billings 82-79-82-243

David Shopay, Gallatin Gateway 87-76-82-245

Stew Ward, Missoula 84-78-84-246

Pete Ridgeway, Missoula 88-78-89-255

Bob Kane, Bonner 80-77-WD-WD

Flight 2

Fred Ferreira, Hamilton 79-77-81-237

Bill Hickey, Anaconda 81-80-78-239

Jerry Ivers, Conrad 82-77-82-241

G. Todd Baugh, Billings 84-79-86-249

Chet Birkeland, Billings 85-83-82-250

Jerry Corne, Whitefish 87-84-83-254

Gerry Eller, Helena 86-76-92-254

Ed Dolezal, Great Falls 82-83-90-255

Roy Dietz, Great Falls 94-74-87-255

Carl McAfee, Missoula 84-84-93-261

Tom Olson, Bozeman 83-86-93-262

Fid Fitterer, Great Falls 89-85-94-268

Dave Hilde, Bigfork 91-87-95-273

Flight 3

Dan Noennig, Billings 81-84-82-247

John Hayes, Great Falls 81-89-80-250

Dale Haarr, Kalispell 86-85-86-257

Norm Millikin, Bozeman 94-80-84-258

Terry Morton, Great Falls 79-91-90-260

Bob Livesey, Florence 80-91-89-260

Len Ward, Billings 89-93-80-262

Bill Meagor, Butte 86-88-89-263

John Coghlan, St. Regis 94-81-89-264

Neil Duddy, Butte 87-95-83-265

Rick Ervin, Havre 85-96-89-270

Wally Sims, Billings 91-91-89-271

Pat Coyle, Missoula 90-90-97-277

Jim Heaton, Scobey 93-99-93-285

Flight 4

Dennis Yarbrough, Bigfork 79-86-89-254

Roy Stanley, Lakeside 79-87-91-257

Leon Squires, Glasgow 83-89-88-260

Dick Correll, Missoula 82-88-91-261

Kermit Ulstad, Anaconda 87-88-87-262

Maurice Buls, Kalispell 85-91-88-264

Herb Kimball, Polson 82-89-95-266

Donald McNees, Lewistown 89-91-86-266

Cal Loudermilk, Havre 86-87-93-266

Bill Hogart, Butte 90-89-91-270

Woody Hahn, Billings 84-91-97-272

Cliff Amundsen, Billings 85-101-91-277

Dave Greenwood, Havre 91-92-95-278

Bassett Hoiness, Livingston 89-101-97-287

Flight 5

Phil Maurer, Wilsall 84-86-88-258

Duane Behm, Laurel 88-86-87-261

Ken Kelly, Great Falls 78-95-89-262

Larry Ashcraft, Bigfork 91-89-93-273

Gary Brooks, Helena 94-96-89-279

Larry Lorfing, Laurel 100-95-90-285

Meredith Reiter, Billings 87-101-98-286

Dave Cashman, Great Falls 90-103-93-286

Dave Hamilton, Havre 105-97-91-293

John Meese, Missoula 85-103-105-293

Keith Colbo, Helena 95-101-104-300

Flight 6

Gary Young, Elliston 89-92-91-272

Harlan Rimer, Missoula 83-91-99-273

Jerry Mitchke, Helena 91-90-94-275

Rick Gartzka, Great Falls 89-88-99-276

Bob Roberts, Stevensville 88-95-93-276

Dan Sundling, Livingston 94-89-96-279

Joe Summers, Great Falls 94-94-92-280

Tom Vincent, Livingston 104-97-90-291

Jack Jensen, Missoula 89-103-99-291

Tom Hartford, Lewistown 93-93-106-292

Tom Sullivan, Butte 92-100-109-301

Terry Dunfee, Butte 100-103-103-306

Flight 7

Neil Dunham, Kalispell 94-89-87-270

Mike Anderson, Lakeside 92-92-90-274

Carl "Ole" Patterson, Helena 98-92-91-281

Bob Gersack, Livingston 98-98-87-283

Gordon Nelsen, Conrad 96-96-93-285

Kenneth Emery, Victor 100-93-94-287

Ken Dahinden, Superior 98-104-86-288

Gordie Schlabs, Lakeside 96-95-101-292

Dick Walton, Missoula 101-99-94-294

Ron Hilbig, Great Falls 104-100-100-304

Mick Tucker, Helena 102-103-100-305

Don Jacobson, Great Falls 106-102-103-311

Flight 8

Larry Lett, Malta 100-95-91-286

Gerald Rivinius, Billings 104-88-98-290

Derk Turner, Stevensville 97-97-99-293

Lonnie Bailey, Missoula 110-99-90-299

Cecil Dalby, Glasgow 106-102-101-309

Bob Breum, Havre 107-99-105-311

Rick Wortman, Stevensville 99-113-101-313

Gary Leighty, Plains 106-106-104-316

Roger King, Augusta 111-109-99-319

Bob Gillette, Missoula 111-108-106-325

Ron Hanni, Butte 115-103-112-330

Dave Hanni, Butte 106-127-113-346

Junior (ages 70-77)

Flight 1

John Dayries, Missoula 74-73-74-221

Everett Egbert, Belgrade 76-74-77-227

Bill Redmond, Kalispell 85-81-75-241

Lloyd Saunders, Albuquerque 85-81-86-252

Arlen Seman, Hamilton 81-85-90-256

Bill Dickinson, Kalispell 88-83-89-260

Harvey De Mars, Helena 89-82-92-263

Jim Callaghan, Missoula 90-85-89-264

Clarence Howard, Scobey 90-78-99-267

Dick Fish, Bozeman 87-87-94-268

Pat Casey, Rathdrum 85-90-WD-WD

Flight 2

Jim Hansen, Bigfork 81-84-88-253

Bob Skates, Billings 79-88-91-258

Maury Colberg Jr., Billings 89-88-87-264

Skip Dunfee, Kalispell 93-89-85-267

Ray Frank, Billings 87-89-92-268

David Larsen, Billings 93-84-97-274

Joe Balek, Great Falls 91-93-91-275

Bob Williamson, Billings 95-94-95-284

Tom Schneider, Helena 93-93-98-284

Delbert Long, Great Falls 88-102-98-288

George Denton, Livingston 98-96-100-294

Mayo Ashley, Helena 100-96-99-295

Don Knievel, Butte 85-96-WD-WD

Flight 3

Glenn Kozeluh, Missoula 90-90-82-262

Harry Birkenbuel, Great Falls 90-97-94-281

Glen Christiansen, Townsend 96-98-88-282

P. J. Moran, Livingston 91-92-99-282

Bud Kall, Helena 97-93-94-284

Jim McNally, Billings 94-97-96-287

Jim Oblander, Laurel 99-94-95-288

Duane Reisch, Whitefish 100-97-92-289

Irv Studebaker, Federal Way 99-93-98-290

Rocky Ginter, Missoula 92-103-97-292

Harold Carter, Missoula 91-109-93-293

Clayton Huntley, Wisdom 95-103-96-294

Flight 4

Greg Parker, Anaconda 86-94-102-282

Don Petersen, Whitefish 93-97-101-291

Joe Harris, Kalispell 98-94-101-293

Bill Shull, Plains 97-100-97-294

Jerry Johnson, Lewistown 92-99-103-294

Bill Mendel, Winifred 98-103-98-299

Ken Hansen, Glasgow 104-99-96-299

Jack Whelan, Butte 105-96-101-302

Bob Bylund, Fort Benton 96-106-100-302

Loy Carroll, Manhattan 104-111-101-316

Jerry Cooper, Great Falls 113-108-99-320

Jerry Nuckolls, E. Missoula 111-119-WD-WD

Flight 5

Russ Hartford, Kalispell 100-92-90-282

Ted Witzel, Kalispell 93-97-94-284

Ron Perrin, Missoula 103-104-100-307

Jack Day, Bozeman 112-105-103-320

Roland Grant, Billings 101-110-109-320

Dale Edlund, Billings 109-106-110-325

Bill Smith, Malta 116-109-101-326

Gerald Huber, Great Falls 117-115-110-342

Dan Piazzola, Butte 109-119-124-352

Glen Williamson, Dodson 126-123-109-358

Kenneth Campbell, Havre 120-132-123-375

Senior (ages 78-plus)

Flight 1

Les Barnes, Billings 83-84-85-252

Hal Avery, Big Sky 90-93-91-274

Zane Dawson, Laurel 88-105-87-280

John Matovich, Billings 91-100-92-283

John Mandeville, Billings 90-96-97-283

Arch Hewitt, Helena 97-97-91-285

Jerry Feda, Glasgow 96-94-95-285

Ed White, Great Falls 97-97-94-288

Frank McIntrye, Glasgow 110-108-107-325

Jim Barfknecht, Helena 117-109-121-347

Flight 2

Mahlon Wipperman, Conrad 99-96-104-299

Dale Goodan, Lewistown 101-104-96-301

Mac McKinsey, Great Falls 101-106-103-310

Carl "Tots" Totman, Malta 101-110-104-315

Chuck Strong, Lewistown 110-102-106-318

M. Wood, Battle Ground 102-114-120-336

Dick Moore, Missoula 114-116-115-345

E. "Smitty" Smith, Turah 122-129-129-380