Low round lifts Williams

Missoula golfer shoots a 70 to claim 3-stroke win at Mid-Am State tournament

He saved his best round for the final day.

And it turned out to be a smart move.

Travis Williams closed the 22nd annual Montana Mid-Am State Golf Tournament on Thursday with a 2-under par 70 for a three-stroke victory over Jerry Pearsall of Billings at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.

Williams, of Missoula, also had the low round for the day, and it matched the low round for the tournament.

Williams finished the 54-hole event with an even-par total of 216.

Pearsall shot a 72, which was also his best score of the three-day event. He opened with a 74 and improved by one stroke each round.

Alex Anderson of Red Lodge finished third, four shots behind, and Shawn Tucker of Whitefish was fourth, five off the pace. Tucker finished with a 72.

Williams was in a six-way tie for third place at 74 after Tuesday's first round, and shared the lead with last year's runner-up, Bill Dunn of Missoula after 36 holes.

Dunn shot his second straight 76 on Thursday and tied Joe Cielak of Libby for fifth place at 222. Dunn was the first-round leader with a 70.

Williams, 34, was competing in his first Mid-Am. He was also playing Whitefish Lake for the first time since 1993, when he was on the Valley Christian High School golf team.

"I like it," Williams said. "It's similar to my hometown course, the Missoula Country Club."

Williams used five straight pars to begin play Thursday to get in a groove.

"It took the nerves away," he said. "So that was good."

He picked up birdies at 7 and 8, but capped the front nine with a bogey. He made the turn at 1-under.

"(Holes) 10 through 15 are just tough," he said. "I was just trying to play those even par.

"I did have a bogey in there (at 11)."

Williams chipped in from 35 feet for a birdie on the par 4, 371-yard 17th hole.

"I was just trying to get up and down, get my par and not get a bogey," he said. "Just move on to 18."

At 18, he dropped an 18-foot putt on the 601-yard, par-5 hole for another birdie and the victory.

"I just wanted to concentrate on hitting the shots I needed to make," Williams said. "I had no idea (who was leading)."

That was because Dunn and Williams did not play in the same foursome.

"I putted really well the whole tournament," Williams said. "I've been struggling with my putter the last three weeks."

Williams says he consulted Marcus Williams, a friend and golfing partner, who gave him a few tips.

"It helped me get a better feel for it," he said. "I'm very excited that I was able to come here and play solid and do it.

"I was not real happy with how I played in Bozeman (at the State Am). I was hoping this would be a chance for me to redeem myself."

Chris McConnell of Lewistown, the two-time defending champion, was never a factor. He shot 78-77-79-234.

Final Results

At Whitefish Lake Golf Club

North Course - Par 72, 6,797 yards

Championship

Travis Williams, Missoula 74-72-70-216

Jerry Pearsall, Billings 74-73-72-219

Alex Anderson, Red Lodge 74-75-71-220

Shawn Tucker, Whitefish 75-74-72-221

Joe Cielak, Libby 72-75-75-222

Bill Dunn, Missoula 70-76-76-222

Dirk Cloninger, Missoula 74-79-71-224

Michael Williams, Clancy 78-73-76-227

Craig Hurlbert, Hamilton 79-71-77-227

Parker Heller, Helena 80-76-71-227

Gary Koprivica, Missoula 78-71-79-228

Timothy Garden, Lolo 79-73-77-229

John Campbell, Bozeman 75-76-78-229

Mark Mance, Whitefish 76-72-82-230

Reid Lende, Livingston 77-76-77-230

Doug Bennyhoff, Great Falls 78-76-77-231

Ron Garland, Bozeman 74-78-81-233

Tom Ployhar, Missoula 81-74-79-234

Mark Nedrud, Missoula 80-74-80-234

Jeff Allen, Billings 77-79-78-234

Chris McConnell, Lewistown 78-77-79-234

Bryon Mayala, Billings 76-79-79-234

Dave Streeter, Whitefish 75-77-83-235

Joe Johnston, Missoula 80-78-78-236

Timothy Haas, Bozeman 79-79-78-236

John Dayries, Missoula 76-79-81-236

John Cole, Kalispell 78-75-84-237

Steve Gold, Whitefish 81-75-81-237

Michael Hodges, Columbia Falls 82-76-79-237

Tom Hall, Great Falls 83-72-83-238

Bobby Irwin, Missoula 74-82-83-239

Jim Edwards, Missoula 81-77-82-240

Chuck Thoennes, Belgrade 76-81-dq-dq

1st Flight

Bob Gray, Missoula 78-81-78-237

John Pacheco, Whitefish 80-80-79-239

Hans Fehres, Great Falls 82-78-81-241

Thomas McNeely, Billings 79-81-81-241

John Link, Red Lodge 81-80-81-242

John Perros, Helena 79-81-86-246

Bert Bridger, Laurel 81-81-84-246

Jim Schaible, Kalispell 80-80-88-248

Jamey Perlinski, Bozeman 80-79-wd-wd

2nd Flight

Geoff Easton, Missoula 80-82-78-240

Earl Rife, Great Falls 81-81-79-241

Matthew Koehler, Missoula 84-79-79-242

Dave Bohyer, Helena 80-82-83-245

Justin Whitted, Shelby 84-79-84-247

Brandon Jurasek, Great Falls 80-82-88-250

Dan Konen, Billings 82-80-89-251

Kurt Winegardner, Bozeman 82-80-dq-dq

3rd Flight

Matt Sheridan, Missoula 85-78-82-245

Steve Strand, Hamilton 81-83-82-246

Dan Ellis, Laurel 84-80-74-238

Marc Parriman, Helena 81-84-79-244

Dow Powell, Whitefish 80-85-81-246

John Dresser, Whitefish 82-83-82-247

Steve Sullivan, Missoula 86-79-91-256

Joe Easton, Missoula 86-79-88-253

4th Flight

Lee Levine, Bozeman 84-81-77-242

Dean Chisholm, Columbia Falls 85-81-80-246

Ryan VanDyke, Conrad 81-85-81-247

Jon Schenk, Fairfield 82-83-84-249

Roy Lende, Livingston 83-82-89-254

Verle Davison, Columbus 82-84-88-254

Tim Redmond, Whitefish 79-86-91-256

Mark King, Whitefish 84-82-dq-dq

5th Flight

Bob Keenan, Bigfork 82-84-77-243

Brad Colberg, Missoula 88-78-77-243

John Howard, Helena 89-78-83-250

John Velk, Missoula 86-81-83-250

Matt Stevenson, Missoula 82-86-85-253

Brian Robertson, Missoula 80-87-90-257

Bill Schwarzkoph, Billings 89-79-90-258

Daniel Leader, Big Sandy 87-81-wd-wd

6th Flight

John Bohyer, Missoula 87-82-79-248

Hunter Lloyd, Bozeman 81-88-80-249

Tom York, Bozeman 87-81-83-251

Mike Walsh, Great Falls 86-84-83-253

Ace Brown, Anaconda 82-87-84-253

Tom Bulger, Missoula 81-88-85-254

Gene Burns, Missoula 85-85-87-257

Rick Cannon, Missoula 5-84-91-260

7th Flight

Joe Perry, Big Sky 86-85-82-253

Tom Shea, Whitefish 87-83-83-253

Paul Johannsen, Whitefish 90-81-82-253

Don Walter, Kalispell 81-90-83-254

Michael Boulds, Poplar 85-86-85-256

John Carstensen, Bozeman 86-85-85-256

Tim Roy, Missoula 88-83-89-260

John Beyer, Bozeman 84-87-89-260

8th Flight

Chas Lansing, Dillon 85-88-79-252

Jon Lowry, Kalispell 90-83-84-257

Jim DeMars, Bozeman 85-87-85-257

Peter Tucker, Missoula 89-83-87-259

Ron Alles, Helena 90-82-87-259

John Boyle, Missoula 91-81-87-259

Steve Dennison, St. Ignatius 86-86-90-262

Tom Reynolds, Shelby 85-88-92-265

9th Flight

Rick Forrette, Clancy 84-90-78-252

David Sandler, Kalispell 90-84-79-253

Randy Warner, Missoula 83-90-81-254

John Justin, Florence 85-89-83-257

Kurt McDonough, Florence 83-90-86-259

Sparkey McClean, Anaconda 84-90-85-259

Thom Peck, Bigfork 88-86-90-264

Bruce Walter, Great Falls 88-86-91-265

10th Flight

Steve Shelly, Missoula 89-86-78-253

Jim Hill, Helena 93-82-84-259

Jim Parr, Hamilton 90-85-86-261

Brad Dantic, Missoula 88-87-88-263

Bob Anderson, Helena 86-89-88-263

Rex Tanberg, Great Falls 86-89-89-264

Jamie Boyer, Great Falls 88-87-92-267

Pat DiFronzo, Butte 87-88-94-269

11th Flight

Graham Barnes, Missoula 86-90-83-259

Darren Rowe, Great Falls 90-86-83-259

Dennis Sacry, Whitehall 85-91-84-260

Todd Dundas, Billings 84-92-87-263

Edward Flesch, Shelby 87-89-87-263

Tom Heiman, Great Falls 87-89-88-264

Dale Haarr, Kalispell 89-87-98-274

Roger Amundson, Malta 85-92-98-275

12th Flight

Bob Dick, Great Falls 89-88-82-259

Daniel Crumbaker, Whitefish 84-93-82-259

Tom Strizich, Kalispell 94-83-85-262

Jim Paulsen, Clancy 91-86-88-265

John Shampeny, Manhattan 92-86-90-268

Hollis West, Great Falls 86-91-94-271

Peter Shober, Missoula 89-89-93-271

Andy Shott, Missoula 91-86-wd-wd

13th Flight

Greg Betthauser, Kalispell 95-84-80-259

Brett Barker, Columbus 90-88-84-262

Tracy Roy, Missoula 93-87-83-263

Steve Johnstone, Havre 85-95-83-263

Clint Mann, Red Lodge 93-86-87-266

Jon Larson, Lewistown 89-91-89-269

Rob Venneman, Billings 88-91-92-271

Bill Hedge, Helena 87-92-102-281

14th Flight

David Weaver, Bozeman 93-87-83-263

Rod Gabriel, Missoula 92-88-87-267

Wayne Nelson, Billings 92-89-88-269

Brett Thackeray, Lewistown 91-89-89-269

Bob Ogg, Missoula 92-89-89-270

Eriz Johnson, Bozeman 89-92-97-278

Cory Golden, Billings 93-87-100-280

Ken Baune, Great Falls 95-85-dq-dq

15th Flight

Dale Haarr Jr., Billings 90-93-85-268

Ryan Saunders, Bozeman 91-91-87-269

Joe Proctor, Missoula 92-90-90-272

Dan Runyan, Livingston 89-92-92-273

Bob Slaaven, Lincoln 94-88-91-273

Brad Bechler, Whitefish 94-88-95-277

Terry Evans, Deer Lodge 94-88-99-281

Scott Willis, Missoula 92-91-101-284

16th Flight

Sheldon Degele, Columbus 92-92-89-273

Mike Fauth, Billings 87-97-91-275

Richard Hannah, Billings 96-89-95-280

Wayne Gransbery, Columbus 95-91-95-281

Brad Freeman, Lavina 91-95-96-282

William Schilling, Havre 101-85-96-282

Steven Peterson, Lewistown 96-88-102-286

Tim Wenz, Kalispell 89-95-106-290

17th Flight

Rod Reid, Columbia Falls 93-93-87-273

Brad Martens, Missoula 95-92-88-275

John Michelotti, Billings 97-89-89-275

Don Hill, Libby 89-99-89-277

Kevin Aurich, Kalispell 92-94-92-278

Mike Casey, Whitefish 97-91-90-278

Bruce Grendahl, Helena 91-97-92-280

Carl McMahon, Helena 92-96-95-283

18th Flight

Dean Sorensen, Harlowton 97-92-91-280

Bob Degele, Billings 92-98-91-281

Steve Corn, Florence 99-90-92-281

Dick Collins, Whitefish 98-93-97-288

Rick McClanahan, Lewistown 96-98-94-288

Mark Menke, Missoula 96-96-102-294

Mike Henderson, Malta 97-96-104-297

Johnathan Joseph, Whitefish 98-95-dq-dq

19th Flight

Charles Maus, Missoula 92-104-90-286

Mike Hay, Helena 101-96-92-289

Gary Tucker, Missoula 101-93-96-290

John Tripp, Billings 98-98-94-290

Dean Lingelbach, East Helena 99-95-99-293

Ralph Beltrone, Great Falls 103-92-99-294

Bruce Reid, Lewistown 92-104-113-309

20th Flight

Ken Smith, Dillon 106-93-90-289

Jim Davenport, Missoula 98-100-94-292

Ed Dolezal, Great Falls 98-102-92-292

Larry Berg, Judith Gap 98-100-95-293

Larry Greafe, Wolf Point 103-99-92-294

Brian Kopper, Missoula 104-103-91-298

Mark Sherwood, Kalispell 103-107-109-319