Golfers primed for Pinehurst

Making the cut at this tournament was a biggie for five youngsters on Tuesday at Buffalo Hill Golf Club.

The cut in this case was a qualifying score and those matching, or bettering that number, earned the right to advance to the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., Aug. 5-7.

Those doing so were Marko Banic, 7, of DeWinter, Alberta; Cole Herbel, 9, of Bismarck, N.D.;  Ryggs Johnston, 10, of Libby; Elijah Turner, 11, of Highland, Utah; and Ryan Keenan, 12, of Bigfork.

Keenan, the 2009 Montana Junior Amateur champion ages 12-and-under, shot 37-41—78 on the Championship 18 to finish first in his age group at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship qualifier. The seventh-grader needed to shoot at least an 84 to automatically advance.

Scott Redelsperger of Phoenix, Ariz., was one shot off the leader’s pace, 43-36—79. By finishing second, Redelsperger can still qualify for Pinehurst, but must now do so through regional competition.

Johnston, 10, bettered the qualifying standard by three strokes with his round of 41 on the Cameron Nine.

Banic shot 45, which was one shot better than needed; Herbel matched his age group’s qualifying score of 44; and Turner shot 82, which was two below the qualifying standard.

All total, there were 15 boys and two girls competing. The two largest age groups for boys were 12, with four entrants, and 8, with three.

Ages 6-10 boys played nine holes, as did girls 11-12.

Boys 11-14 played 18 holes.

Keenan couldn’t have asked for a better start to his tournament, chipping in from 45 feet on the first hole. That gave him a birdie.

“That got the butterflies to go away,” he said.

“Just a lot of pars,” he said on the front.

“First, (keep it in) the fairway, greens in regulation and two putts,” he said of his strategy.

Keenan said he let up a little bit on the back nine, and it cost him on a couple of holes.

“I stopped playing aggressive,” he said.

“Two bad drives, two bad three putts. But I didn’t have any doubles (double bogeys).”

All in all, a pretty decent round for his first time at Buffalo Hill.

“It’s a great course,” he said.

“It’s really cool down by the river.”

Buffalo Hill was hosting this event for the first time ever.

Last year this qualifier was held in Boise, Idaho.

“Jerad Avery’s daughter played in this qualifier last year,” Buffalo Hill head golf professional Dave Broeder said.

“He said they weren’t going to have a qualifier this year. There wasn’t going to be one in the Inland Northwest.

“We contacted U.S. Kids. They got a hold of us and one thing led to another.”

Teigan Avery was the lone girl in the 12-year-old bracket. The Kalispell golfer shot 47, which was three shots above the qualifying score.

Alexandra Bonsor of Kalispell, age 11, was the other entrant. She shot 55.

Kalispell had a total of five golfers in the field.

“For the first year, we’re pretty happy,” Broeder said.

“We sent out (tournament) notices to almost 200 courses throughout the Pacific Northwest.

“We wanted to get the word out,” he said.

“Hopefully it will blossom from here. It would be nice to get twice as many kids, three times (as many).”

Broeder said all participating qualifying courses are set up so that par and yardage are the same.

“If it works out, that would be great,” Broeder said of hosting this event again.

“It gives us a chance to promote youth golf and the area. It’s good for the kids to experience competition and play with kids from other parts of the country.”

U.S. Kids Golf

World Championship qualifier

Tuesday

At Buffalo Hill Golf

Boys ages 6-10 and girls 11-12 played the Cameron Nine

Boys ages 11-14 played the Championship 18

Qualifying score in parenthesis after age group

Golfers must match, or better, qualifying score to advance to the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., Aug. 5-7

Golfers finishing, second, third, etc., but bettering the qualifying standard advance to regional competion

* — National qualifiers

** — Regional qualifier

Boys Results

Age 6 (48)

Connor McCarthy, Missoula    49

Age 7 (46)

*Marko Banic, DeWinter, Alberta    45

Age 8 (46)

Jarrod Johnson, Columbia Falls    50

Will Reeves, Sandpoint, Idaho    55

Josh Mielke, Kalispell    76

Age 9 (44)

*Cole Herbel, Bismarck, N.D.    44

Age 10 (44)

*Ryggs Johnston, Libby    41

Jack Reeves, Sandpoint, Idaho    49

Age 11 (84)

*Elijah Turner, Highland, Utah    82

Age 12 (84)

*Ryan Keenan, Bigfork    78

**Scott Redelsperger, Phoenix, Ariz.    79

Zach Mendez, Pembroke Pine, Fla.    86

Thomas Mann, Kalispell    94

Age 13 (84)

Riley Nelson, Kalispell    122

Age 14 (84)

Frank Harrison IV, Browning    115

—————

Girls Results

Age 11 (44)

Alexandra Bonsor, Kalispell    55

Age 12 (44)

Teigan Avery, Kalispell    47