State's top seniors tee off in Flathead

Bigfork’s Ron Ramsey and Polson’s Steve Lucas lead the Montana State Senior Amateur golf championship after the first day of play on Tuesday at Village Greens Golf Club. The tournament, also played at Buffalo Hill Golf Club and Whitefish Lake Golf Club’s North Course, continues through Thursday.

Ramsey, Lucas and the leaders attacked Village Greens on the opening day, shooting 1-under-par 69 in the first round to take an early lead with Bozeman’s Ron Garland and Missoula’s Ron Maki.

It’s a tight race at the top with eight golfers shooting par or better in the opening round. There are 29 golfers within five shots of the lead.

Kalispell’s Jim Schaible, Bigfork’s Charlie Mason and Polson’s Rich Forbis are one stroke back after shooting par 70, as did with Billings’ Thomas McNeely. Kalispell’s Earl Rife, Polson’s Johnny Ashcraft and Bigfork’s Tom Brown are each 2-over-par.

The top 49 golfers and all but four within 10 strokes of the leaders golfed at Village Greens on Tuesday. The leaders will play Whitefish Lake today, which proved to be the toughest course of the trio in the opening round, with no golfers in the top 69 starting in the North Valley.

Each of the three rounds today are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start.

Montana State Senior Amateur

Tuesday

at Buffalo Hill GC, Whitefish Lake GC (North Course) and Village Greens GC

Par 72 (*Par 70)

First Round

Freshman (Ages 55-62)

Flight 1

Lee Levine, Bozeman    71*

Fred Schweitzer, Bozeman    71*

Earl Rife, Kalispell    72*

Gaylord Barnhill, Missoula    72*

Chuck Thoennes, Belgrade    72*

Steve Bell, Missoula    73*

Dan Brown, Billings    74*

Roy Murray, Helena    76*

Fred Carl, Missoula    76*

Kelley Gaskill, Bozeman    80*

Rod Brady, Kalispell    80*

Kevin Hayes, Helena    83*

Flight 2

Pat Lancione, Bozeman    73*

Chuck Beagle, Missoula    74*

Dan Purcell, Bigfork    74*

Ray Lynn, Missoula    74*

Kraig Kincaid, Billings    75*

Bob Sainsbury, Great Falls    75*

Doug Olson, Helena    76*

Pat Darbro, Bozeman    76*

John Zaiss, Whitefish    78*

Greg Betthauser, Kalispell    78*

Dennis Roberts, Laurel    81*

Scott Hagel, Kalispell    83*

Dave Bauer, Clancy    83*

Kevin O’Connell, Great Falls    85*

John Smigaj, Butte    86*

Flight 3

Rich Forbis, Polson    70*

Tom Brown, Bigfork    72*

Chris Vidulich, Kalispell    76*

Jeff Ouellette, Missoula    77*

Brad Martens, Missoula    78*

Dee Sullivan, Butte    80*

Perry Jacobson, Whitefish    81*

Steve Shelly, Missoula    81*

Randy Sitzman, Billings    82*

Ken Hagen, Billings    86*

Bill Schilling, Havre    92*

Ernie Meador, Livingston    94*

Flight 4

Mike Crocker, Great Falls    75*

Frank Gaul, Butte    75*

Bill Hughes, Butte    75*

Ken Smith, Dillon    79*

Dan Gaughan, Helena    80

Gene Burns, Missoula    81*

Scott Smith, Coram    81*

Andy Shott, Missoula    83*

Bruce Clark, Great Falls    83*

Jim Pellegrini, Helena    83

Dennis Ebel, Missoula    84

Ron Shorter, Livingston    88*

John Tibbetts, Havre    97

Flight 5

R. T. Ray, Whitefish    84

Randy Michael, Laurel    85

Larry Wagner, Billings    85

Steve Piper, Bozeman    87

Stephen Corn, Florence    89

Mark Menke, Helena    90

Rick Engum, Red Lodge    91

Scott Voytoski, Great Falls    91

Joe Nickisch, Billings    93

William McLeod, Great Falls    94

Gery Schneider, Butte    96

Dan Runyan, Livingston    98

Steve Bateman, Whitehall    102

Flight 6

Mike Beggs, Great Falls    85

George Zorzakis, Billings    87

Kurt Kaiser, Emigrant    90

Duane Parker, Missoula    90

Tom King, Billings    92

Pete Woods, Chester    93

Stan Stanhope, Hot Springs    97

Darryl Brower, Whitehall    97

Garry Hicks, Helena    98

Ed Marks, Missoula    98

Mark French, Helena    98

Flight 7

Kerry Ward, Havre    86

Mark Olson, Shelby    91

Rodney Archambeault, Glasgow    94

Joel Voytoski, Kalispell    96

Scott Hobbs, Great Falls    98

Pat Karns, Great Falls    98

Ron Nau, Columbia Falls    100

Dennis Springer, Livingston    102

Mike Mosby, Bozeman    104

Brad Hicks, Livingston    122

Bill Halver, Shelby    

Terry Heffernan, Anaconda    

Sophomore (Ages 63-69)

Flight 1

Ron Garland, Bozeman    69*

Steve Lucas, Polson    69*

Ron Ramsey, Bigfork    69*

Thomas McNeely, Billings    70*

Mark Nedrud, Missoula    72*

Joe Hill, Missoula    73*

George Stern, Missoula    74*

James Mullins, Helena    75*

John Reeves, Helena    75*

Chas Lansing, Dillon    75*

Sparkey McLean, Anaconda    76*

Ben Schmitt, Montana City    77*

Bill Murray, Helena    78*

Flight 2

Ron Maki, Missoula    69*

Charlie Mason, Bigfork    70*

Johnny Ashcraft, Polson    72*

Robert Cummins, Missoula    73*

Bob Schweitzer, Bozeman    73*

Jim Van Fossen, Missoula    74*

Greg Barkus, Bigfork    74*

Ken Nettleton, Helena    74*

Mike Jones, Bigfork    77*

David Eggebrecht, Polson    77*

Gordie McManus, Great Falls    77*

Dean Wright, Billings    79*

Bert Bridger, Laurel    80*

Andy Anderson, East Helena    84*

Flight 3

Vince Taylor, Bigfork    73*

Steve Johnstone, Havre    73*

Roy Lende, Livingston    77*

Dan Lieberg, Helena    78*

Rex Tanberg, Great Falls    79*

Roy Hayworth, Missoula    79*

Bob Moon, Helena    79*

Bob Stolzenbach, Kalispell    80*

Gary Rodman, Whitefish    81*

Dennis Schweitzer, Bozeman    86*

Thomas Sadler, Twin Bridges    87*

Carl McMahon, Helena    87*

John Hauptman, Billings    88*

Flight 4

Denny Davis, Fairfield    77*

Tom Strizich, Kalispell    78*

Frank Williams, Missoula    78*

Bob Lander, Great Falls    78

Brad Miller, Frenchtown    78

Scott Powers, Bozeman    87

Gary Myers, Whitefish    88

Dick Sonju, Kalispell    89

Allen Wold, Missoula    91*

Charlie Mueller, Helena    93*

Fred Town, Twin Bridges    98

Lloyd Bermingham, Belgrade    100

Scott Willis, Missoula    103

Flight 5

Dale Huffine, Lewistown    83

Dennis Sacry, Whitehall    86

Rod Sundstad, Helena    87

James Valentino, Bigfork    88

Ron Olson, Whitefish    88

Steve Solberg, Billings    91

Ray Noble, Three Forks    91

John Hove, Westby    93

Jim Ritter, Billings    93

John Tripp, Billings    93

Bent Petersen, Bigfork    96

Flight 6

Dan Little, Whitefish    85

Dick Fisher, Fort Benton    88

Earl Terwilliger, Great Falls    92

Ralph Wetzel Jr., Billings    92

Joe Bateson, Bozeman    93

Bob Parker, Dillon    93

Jerry Sonju, Kalispell    93

Jim Barfknecht Jr., Helena    96

Joel Schmidt, Missoula    97

Ken Trust, Bigfork    97

Roy Hamilton, Livingston    98

David Adams, Livingston    109

Flight 7

Paul Johnson, Missoula    89

Mark Redfern, Helena    90

Dan Fredrickson, Butte    93

John Kelly, Superior    97

Tom Shea, Bozeman    98

Wayne Pittard, Billings    98

Bob Goodan, Lewistown    99

Brad Wenz, Augusta    99

Brian Cripe, Whitefish    99

Mark Jones, Hall    102

Ken Mosby, Bozeman    104

Roy Schmidt, Billings    109

Flight 8

Keith Olson, Kalispell    86

Bob Shaw, Whitehall    91

Frank Murphy, Laurel    92

Richard Soha, Great Falls    93

Joe Barbero, Billings    93

Gary Willis, Helena    94

John Dobak, Missoula    96

Larry McLaughlin, Missoula    96

Gary Ugrin, Billings    97

Robert Connaghan, Billings    97

Joe Shevlin, Helena    102

Flight 9

Gary Samuels, Great Falls    87

Dave Carroll, Billings    92

Mike Fredrickson, Missoula    96

Dale King, Anaconda    96

Lee Olson, Helena    96

Dale Schaff, Lewistown    103

Ron Fischer, Harlowton    105

Ed Hughes, Great Falls    105

O’Dean Henderson, Superior    107

Ron Marcum, Missoula    107

Flight 10

Dex Tank, Bozeman    92

Gordon Swandal, Livingston    92

Hal Robbins, Helena    93

Dale Enerson, Malta    95

Paul Lyman, Livingston    95

K. C. Sullivan, Superior    98

Frank Jesness, Missoula    101

Ken Baird, Billings    102

Dewey Nygaard, Missoula    103

Bill Spear, Spokane    117

Junior (Ages 70-77)

Flight 1

Jim Schaible, Kalispell    70*

David Shopay, Gallatin Gateway    73*

Bill Brunskill, Indian Wells    74*

Bill Gilman, Missoula    76*

Carl McAfee, Missoula    78*

Pete Ridgeway, Missoula    79*

Ace Brown, Anaconda    79*

Walter Degnan, Billings    80*

Larry Robinson, Bigfork    81*

Lauren McClurg, Bigfork    81*

Chuck Burdette, Wilsall    82*

John Hayes, Great Falls    82*

John Gilligan, Red Lodge    83*

Robert Thompson, Helena    86*

Flight 2

Marshall Kreuter, Bigfork    75*

Dale Haarr, Kalispell    81

Frank Richter, Billings    81

Dan Noennig, Billings    83

Ron King, Helena    84

Rod Reid, Columbia Falls    85

Bo Severson, Billings    85

Paul Turley, Helena    86

Neil Duddy, Butte    90

Bob Birkle, Bigfork    91

Tom Schumacher, Malta    92

Todd Baugh, Billings    93

Jerry Rivinius, Billings    108

Flight 3

Roy Stanley, Lakeside    87

Fid Fitterer, Great Falls    88

Bob Williamson, Billings    90

Johnny Turner, West Glacier    92

Dave Greenwood, Havre    92

Bob Livesey, Florence    93

Bob Slaven, Lincoln    94

Bill Rozokat, Great Falls    94

Rick Ervin, Havre    95

Kermit Ulstad, Anaconda    95

Dennis Yarbrough, Bigfork    103

Duane Behm, Laurel    104

Dave Cashman, Great Falls    108

Flight 4

Bob Miller, Butte    87

Phil Koterba, Lewistown    89

Ed Strommen, Anaconda    91

Phil Maurer, Wilsall    95

J. T. Brownlee, Wolf Point    96

Bob Breum, Havre    98

George Denton, Livingston    101

Ron Ring, Billings    101

Larry Lett, Malta    101

Jim Campbell, Helena    102

Tom Sullivan, Butte    106

Tom Schneider, Helena    107

Neil Dunham, Kalispell    108

Flight 5

Ted Hodges, Columbia Falls    87

Dan Sundling, Livingston    88

Tom Vincent, Livingston    89

Ole Patterson, Helena    97

Gordon Nelsen, Conrad    99

Gene Markuson, Circle    99

Ron Scott, Missoula    99

Jerry Kockler, Helena    100

Dale Peterson, Billings    101

Tom Downs, Helena    102

Dick Parker, Belgrade    102

Cecil Dalby, Glasgow    108

Bob Roberts, Stevensville    108

Flight 6

Nicholas Papagni, Augusta    89

Jim Flagg, Lewistown    96

Loy Carroll, Manhattan    97

Robert Rognlien, Bigfork    100

Jack Jensen, Missoula    101

Bob Gillette, Missoula    102

James Hanson, Kalispell    102

Jim Heaton, Scobey    103

Tom Fleming, Jefferson City    105

Lonnie Bailey, Missoula    105

Jim Willits, Fort Benton    112

Roger Mead, Richey    123

Flight 7

Bob Wolfe, Bigfork    93

Richard Blankenbaker, Bozeman    91

Bob Gersack, Livingston    105

Andy Anderson, Stevensville    108

Marvin Mathison, Lewistown    105

Derk Turner, Stevensville    107

John Edwards, Three Forks    94

Barry Remely, Bozeman    103

Wayne Riley, Lewistown    102

Ron Hanni, Butte    110

Bob Nelson, Fort Benton    118

Bill Smith, Malta    112

Senior (Ages 78+)

Flight 1

Everett Egbert, Belgrade    77*

Bob Lacy, Bigfork    80*

Carl Henry, Bigfork    81*

Jack Countryman, Big Sky    88*

Lloyd Saunders, Bigfork    89

Dick Fish, Bozeman    91

Jim Hansen, Bigfork    91

Glenn Kozeluh, Missoula    92

Glen Christiansen, Townsend    93

Larry Metzger, Bigfork    96

Max Burner, Helena    100

Ken Arnett, Whitefish    102

Ed White, Great Falls    107

Flight 2

Harry Downs, Helena    97

Dale Edlund, Billings    99

Ed Bezanson, Seeley Lake    100

Roland Grant, Billings    105

Dave Sauvageau, Three Forks    105

John Dalby, Glasgow    107

Jerry Nuckolls, Missoula    107

William Boley, Three Forks    108

Bob Bylund, Fort Benton    116

Jack Day, Bozeman    117

Doc Shull, Plains    118

James Barfknecht Sr., Helena,     DNF