Senior Am: Hill storms to victory
Joe Hill was off to a rough start before he even reached the first tee for his final round at the Montana State Senior Amateur golf tournament on Thursday at Buffalo Hill Golf Club.
The 8:30 a.m. shotgun start almost began without him.
“For some reason I thought the tee off time was nine o’clock,” Hill said.
“I didn’t get here until like 8:25 and the intercom was going crazy. I didn’t get any warm ups or anything. Maybe I should try to do that in the future.”
The 67-year-old Missoula resident may consider making this a regular tournament routine, considering he shot his best round, a 69, to finish with a 215 and take home the overall title.
After netting a 73 in two consecutive rounds, Hill sat three shots off the lead, trailing Bozeman’s Fred Schweitzer and Ron Garland, the defending champion. Hill conquered one of the toughest courses of the three-day tournament that rotated between Village Greens Golf Club, Whitefish Lake Golf Club’s North Course and Buffalo Hill Golf Club.
“Sometimes you just kinda get in a zone in golf. I got some good breaks, some good bounces and didn’t miss any putts. That’s how it happens for you. I was pretty steady all day,” Hill said.
“They had this course a little longer than yesterday’s. They had some tough pin placements. It was good. The organization and the tournament is very well run, very well organized and the people that do it are great.”
Hill claimed the overall championship as well as the sophomore division (ages 63-69).
The freshman division (ages 55-62) needed a tiebreaker to determine its champion. Missoula’s Steve Bell and Schweitzer each finished with a 220. To determine the divisional winner, the tiebreaker went back to each players’ first hole of their final round. Both Bell and Schweitzer bogeyed the opening par-four No. 1 at Buffalo Hill, but on the second hole, Schweitzer’s bogey on the 583-yard par-five was bested by Bell’s par, giving the Missoulian the freshman division title.
Kalispell’s Jim Schaible tied for 13th overall with his 229. Although his final round ended with an 84, Schaible took home the junior division (ages 70-77) title.
“Except for three holes, I played fantastic, I thought,” Schaible said.
“I had a triple on five and put up a quad on another one when I hit it in the lake, but I felt good about how I played. I just didn’t make those few holes happen for me.”
As the head golf coach at Glacier High School, Schaible had a first-hand experience of the advice he has given to his players after hoping for a better finish in the overall standings.
“Like I said, I think overall I was solid except for three, seven and eight,” Schaible said.
“When I’m coaching the kids I don’t want them using a poor hole as an excuse. It was frustrating for me and I felt I could have played a little better, but It was a very enjoyable round regardless.”
In the senior division (ages 78 and up) Belgrade’s Everett Egbert, 247, held off Bigfork’s Bob Lacy, 249, and Carl Henry, 254.
Locally, Earl Rife carded a 223 to tie for fifth overall, earning the highest finish of Flathead Valley golfers. Polson’s Steve Lucas, 225, finished in a four-way tie for sixth overall which included Bigfork’s Ron Ramsey.
Montana State Senior Amateur
Thursday
at Buffalo Hill GC, Whitefish Lake GC (North Course) and Village Greens GC
Flathead Valley
Final Round Leaderboard
Joe Hill, Missoula 73-73-69—215
Ron Garland, Bozeman 69-74-74—217
Steve Bell, Missoula 73-74-73—220
Fred Schweitzer, Bozeman 71-72-77—220
Earl Rife, Kalispell 72-72-79—223
Lee Levine, Bozeman 71-74-78—223
Steve Lucas, Polson 69-78-78—225
Ron Ramsey, Bigfork 69-78-78—225
Mark Nedrud, Missoula 72-73-80—225
Ron Maki, Missoula 69-80-76—225
Robert Cummins, Missoula 73-78-76—227
Bob Sainsbury, Great Falls 75-76-77—228
John Reeves, Helena 75-78-76—229
Jim Schaible, Kalispell 70-75-84—229
Doug Olson, Helena 76-74-80—230
Tom Brown, Bigfork 72-78-80—230
Charlie Mason, Bigfork 70-79-81—230
Chuck Thoennes, Belgrade 72-79-80—231
Thomas McNeely, Billings 70-84-77—231
Jim Van Fossen, Missoula 74-74-83—231
Bob Schweitzer, Bozeman 73-76-82—231
Dan Brown, Billings 74-77-81—232
Pat Lancione, Bozeman 73-78-81—232
Rod Brady, Kalispell 80-74-79—233
Chris Vidulich, Kalispell 76-77-80—233
Ken Nettleton, Helena 74-78-81—233
Chas Lansing, Dillon 75-78-81—234
David Shopay, Gltn Gateway 73-79-82—234
Greg Barkus, Bigfork 74-78-83—235
Bert Bridger, Laurel 80-79-76—235
Also
John Zaiss, Whitefish 78-81-80—239
Rich Forbis, Polson 70-81-88—239
Mike Jones, Bigfork 77-80-82—239
Perry Jacobson, Whitefish 81-83-78—242
Vince Taylor, Bigfork 73-90-79—242
Johnny Ashcraft, Polson 77-79-89—245
Greg Betthauser, Kalispell 78-85-83—246
Bob Stolzenbach, Kalispell 80-80-86—246
Tom Strizich, Kalispell 78-87-81—246
Rod Reid, Columbia Falls 85-81-80—246
Dale Haarr, Kalispell 81-82-83—246
Everett Egbert, Belgrade 77-81-89—247
Gary Rodman, Whitefish 81-81-85—247
Dan Little, Whitefish 85-80-82—247
Marshall Kreuter, Bigfork 75-83-89—247
Final Round Results
(* Denotes group champion)
Freshman (Ages 55-62)
Flight 1
Steve Bell, Missoula 73-74-73—220*
Fred Schweitzer, Bozeman 71-72-77—220
Earl Rife, Kalispell 72-72-79—223
Lee Levine, Bozeman 71-74-78—223
Chuck Thoennes, Belgrade 72-79-80—231
Dan Brown, Billings 74-77-81—232
Rod Brady, Kalispell 80-74-79—233
Gaylord Barnhill, Missoula 72-80-84—236
Roy Murray, Helena 76-82-84—242
Kelley Gaskill, Bozeman 80-86-81—247
Fred Carl, Missoula 76-87-90—253
Kevin Hayes, Helena 83-97-91—271
Flight 2
Bob Sainsbury, Great Falls 75-76-77—228
Doug Olson, Helena 76-74-80—230
Pat Lancione, Bozeman 73-78-81—232
Ray Lynn, Missoula 74-77-85—236
Kraig Kincaid, Billings 75-83-79—237
John Zaiss, Whitefish 78-81-80—239
Pat Darbro, Bozeman 76-81-85—242
Chuck Beagle, Missoula 74-80-91—245
Greg Betthauser, Kalispell 78-85-83—246
Scott Hagel, Kalispell 83-86-82—251
Dan Purcell, Bigfork 74-91-90—255
Dave Bauer, Clancy 83-82-92—257
John Smigaj, Butte 86-82-91—259
Kevin O’Connell, Great Falls 85-87-88—260
Dennis Roberts, Laurel 81-77-WD
Flight 3
Tom Brown, Bigfork 72-78-80—230
Chris Vidulich, Kalispell 76-77-80—233
Rich Forbis, Polson 70-81-88—239
Perry Jacobson, Whitefish 81-83-78—242
Dee Sullivan, Butte 80-80-82—242
Jeff Ouellette, Missoula 77-86-87—250
Ken Hagen, Billings 86-83-82—251
Steve Shelly, Missoula 81-79-91—251
Randy Sitzman, Billings 82-81-93—256
Brad Martens, Missoula 78-88-94—260
Bill Schilling, Havre 92-85-93—270
Ernie Meador, Livingston 94-90-88—272
Flight 4
Dan Gaughan, Helena 80-81-81—242
Bill Hughes, Butte 75-87-82—244
Jim Pellegrini, Helena 83-82-82—247
Mike Crocker, Great Falls 75-82-91—248
Frank Gaul, Butte 75-81-97—253
Andy Shott, Missoula 83-86-85—254
Ken Smith, Dillon 79-86-89—254
Scott Smith, Coram 81-84-89—254
Gene Burns, Missoula 81-86-88—255
Dennis Ebel, Missoula 84-93-79—256
Ron Shorter, Livingston 88-83-90—261
Bruce Clark, Great Falls 83-88-91—262
John Tibbetts, Havre 97-87-93—277
Flight 5
Randy Michael, Laurel 85-82-83—250
Steve Piper, Bozeman 87-82-83—252
R. T. Ray, Whitefish 84-85-87—256
Larry Wagner, Billings 85-83-90—258
Rick Engum, Red Lodge 91-85-84—260
Stephen Corn, Florence 89-84-89—262
Joe Nickisch, Billings 93-84-87—264
Mark Menke, Helena 90-87-92—269
Scott Voytoski, Great Falls 91-91-90—272
Gery Schneider, Butte 96-88-96—280
William McLeod, Grt Falls 94-96-100—290
Dan Runyan, Livingston 98-95-101—294
Steve Bateman, Whitehall 102-102-93—297
Flight 6
Mike Beggs, Great Falls 85-86-83—254
Kurt Kaiser, Emigrant 90-83-90—263
George Zorzakis, Billings 87-85-94—266
Tom King, Billings 92-89-85—266
Duane Parker, Missoula 90-88-88—266
Stan Stanhope, Hot Springs 97-86-88—271
Mark French, Helena 98-87-89—274
Garry Hicks, Helena 98-90-89—277
Darryl Brower, Whitehall 97-95-85—277
Pete Woods, Chester 93-92-97—282
Ed Marks, Missoula 98-92-100—290
Flight 7
Terry Heffernan, Anaconda 96-91-88—275
Bill Halver, Shelby 99-96-83—278
Rdny Archambeault, Glsgw 94-87-98—279
Mark Olson, Shelby 91-94-96—281
Kerry Ward, Havre 86-102-96—284
Ron Nau, Columbia Falls 100-101-90—291
Scott Hobbs, Great Falls 98-104-93—295
Joel Voytoski, Kalispell 96-103-100—299
Pat Karns, Great Falls 98-104-106—308
Mike Mosby, Bozeman 104-111-104—319
Dennis Springer, Lvngstn 102-112-110—324
Brad Hicks, Livingston 122-123-127—372
Sophomore (Ages 63-69)
Flight 1
Joe Hill, Missoula 73-73-69—215*
Ron Garland, Bozeman 69-74-74—217
Steve Lucas, Polson 69-78-78—225
Ron Ramsey, Bigfork 69-78-78—225
Mark Nedrud, Missoula 72-73-80—225
John Reeves, Helena 75-78-76—229
Thomas McNeely, Billings 70-84-77—231
Chas Lansing, Dillon 75-78-81—234
Ben Schmitt, Montana City 77-77-83—237
James Mullins, Helena 75-82-82—239
George Stern, Missoula 74-78-87—239
Bill Murray, Helena 78-83-83—244
Sparkey McLean, Anaconda 76-84-90—250
Flight 2
Ron Maki, Missoula 69-80-76—225
Robert Cummins, Missoula 73-78-76—227
Charlie Mason, Bigfork 70-79-81—230
Jim Van Fossen, Missoula 74-74-83—231
Bob Schweitzer, Bozeman 73-76-82—231
Ken Nettleton, Helena 74-78-81—233
Greg Barkus, Bigfork 74-78-83—235
Bert Bridger, Laurel 80-79-76—235
Gordie McManus, Grt Falls 77-79-80—236
Mike Jones, Bigfork 77-80-82—239
Johnny Ashcraft, Polson 77-79-89—245
Dean Wright, Billings 79-82-84—245
Andy Anderson, East Helena 84-83-83—250
David Eggebrecht, Polson 77-91-94—262
Flight 3
Vince Taylor, Bigfork 73-90-79—242
Roy Hayworth, Missoula 79-76-87—242
Rex Tanberg, Great Falls 79-86-80—245
Dan Lieberg, Helena 78-81-87—246
Bob Stolzenbach, Kalispell 80-80-86—246
Gary Rodman, Whitefish 81-81-85—247
Bob Moon, Helena 79-81-88—248
Steve Johnstone, Havre 73-84-92—249
Dennis Schweitzer, Bzman 86-84-89—259
Carl McMahon, Helena 87-89-87—263
John Hauptman, Billings 88-87-WD
Thomas Sadler, Twin Bridges 87-90-WD
Flight 4
Bob Lander, Great Falls 78-78-80—236
Frank Williams, Missoula 78-79-88—245
Tom Strizich, Kalispell 78-87-81—246
Denny Davis, Fairfield 77-84-87—248
Brad Miller, Frenchtown 78-85-88—251
Scott Powers, Bozeman 87-83-83—253
Dick Sonju, Kalispell 89-81-85—255
Gary Myers, Whitefish 88-88-82—258
Allen Wold, Missoula 91-81-92—264
Charlie Mueller, Helena 93-86-96—275
Scott Willis, Missoula 103-82-98—283
Lloyd Bermingham, Blgrde 100-91-98—289
Fred Town, Twin Bridges 98-86-WD
Flight 5
Dale Huffine, Lewistown 83-86-79—248
Dennis Sacry, Whitehall 86-82-86—254
Rod Sundstad, Helena 87-85-87—259
John Tripp, Billings 93-81-85—259
Ray Noble, Three Forks 91-81-87—259
James Valentino, Bigfork 88-84-88—260
Ron Olson, Whitefish 88-85-89—262
John Hove, Westby 93-91-90—274
Bent Petersen, Bigfork 96-95-87—278
Jim Ritter, Billings 93-90-98—281
Steve Solberg, Billings 91-87-WD
Flight 6
Dan Little, Whitefish 85-80-82—247
Joel Schmidt, Missoula 97-92-79—268
Joe Bateson, Bozeman 93-88-88—269
Earl Terwilliger, Great Falls 92-90-88—270
Roy Hamilton, Livingston 98-92-83—273
Ralph Wetzel Jr., Billings 92-85-96—273
Dick Fisher, Fort Benton 88-96-90—274
Jerry Sonju, Kalispell 93-90-91—274
Bob Parker, Dillon 93-91-92—276
Jim Barfknecht Jr., Helena 96-85-95—276
Ken Trust, Bigfork 97-90-101—288
David Adams, Livingston 109-99-97—305
Flight 7
Dan Fredrickson, Butte 93-89-86—268
Bob Goodan, Lewistown 99-88-88—275
John Kelly, Superior 97-86-92—275
Mark Redfern, Helena 90-88-104—282
Brian Cripe, Whitefish 99-87-96—282
Wayne Pittard, Billings 98-93-91—282
Paul Johnson, Missoula 89-97-97—283
Brad Wenz, Augusta 99-94-92—285
Ken Mosby, Bozeman 104-91-97—292
Mark Jones, Hall 102-92-99—293
Roy Schmidt, Billings 109-101-104—314
Tom Shea, Bozeman 98-98-WD
Flight 8
John Dobak, Missoula 96-82-91—269
Keith Olson, Kalispell 86-93-92—271
Bob Shaw, Whitehall 91-99-88—278
Gary Willis, Helena 94-89-97—280
Larry McLaughlin, Missoula 96-92-95—283
Robert Connaghan, Billings 97-97-90—284
Joe Barbero, Billings 93-104-90—287
Frank Murphy, Laurel 92-98-98—288
Gary Ugrin, Billings 97-97-96—290
Richard Soha, Great Falls 93-103-98—294
Joe Shevlin, Helena 102-97-96—295
Flight 9
Gary Samuels, Great Falls 87-105-87—279
Lee Olson, Helena 96-95-89—280
Dave Carroll, Billings 92-99-98—289
Mike Fredrickson, Missoula 96-98-95—289
Dale King, Anaconda 96-98-99—293
Ron Fischer, Harlowton 105-100-99—304
Ed Hughes, Great Falls 105-101-98—304
Dale Schaff, Lewistown 103-107-102—312
O. Henderson, Superior 107-104-108—319
Ron Marcum, Missoula 107-110-109—326
Flight 10
Dex Tank, Bozeman 92-96-88—276
Paul Lyman, Livingston 95-104-91—290
Hal Robbins, Helena 93-101-97—291
Gordon Swandal, Livngston 92-107-92—291
Bill Spear, Spokane 91-103-100—294
K. C. Sullivan, Superior 98-102-98—298
Frank Jesness, Missoula 101-100-98—299
Ken Baird, Billings 102-104-95—301
Dale Enerson, Malta 95-103-105—303
Dewey Nygaard, Msla 103-106-110—319
Junior (Ages 70-77)
Flight 1
Jim Schaible, Kalispell 70-75-84—229*
David Shopay, Gltn Gateway 73-79-82—234
Ace Brown, Anaconda 79-78-83—240
Bill Brunskill, Indian Wells 74-84-86—244
Walter Degnan, Billings 80-78-88—246
Lauren McClurg, Bigfork 81-85-87—253
Bill Gilman, Missoula 76-88-90—254
Larry Robinson, Bigfork 81-84-90—255
Carl McAfee, Missoula 78-85-92—255
Pete Ridgeway, Missoula 79-85-92—256
John Hayes, Great Falls 82-84-90—256
Chuck Burdette, Wilsall 82-87-91—260
Robert Thompson, Helena 86-87-94—267
John Gilligan, Red Lodge 83-91-94—268
Flight 2
Rod Reid, Columbia Falls 85-81-80—246
Dale Haarr, Kalispell 81-82-83—246
Marshall Kreuter, Bigfork 75-83-89—247
Frank Richter, Billings 81-85-86—252
Paul Turley, Helena 86-81-88—255
Dan Noennig, Billings 83-91-82—256
Bo Severson, Billings 85-81-96—262
Todd Baugh, Billings 93-85-86—264
Bob Birkle, Bigfork 91-86-87—264
Ron King, Helena 84-88-93—265
Neil Duddy, Butte 90-85-97—272
Tom Schumacher, Malta 92-98-88—278
Jerry Rivinius, Billings 108-84-92—284
Flight 3
Fid Fitterer, Great Falls 88-87-86—261
Roy Stanley, Lakeside 87-76-100—263
Rick Ervin, Havre 95-93-80—268
Dave Greenwood, Havre 92-85-92—269
Bob Williamson, Billings 90-90-92—272
Kermit Ulstad, Anaconda 95-88-91—274
Bob Livesey, Florence 93-93-89—275
Bob Slaven, Lincoln 94-81-103—278
Johnny Turner, West Glacier 92-92-96—280
Dennis Yarbrough, Bigfork 103-86-92—281
Bill Rozokat, Great Falls 94-100-89—283
Dave Cashman, Grt Falls 108-98-102—308
Duane Behm, Laurel 104-89-193
Flight 4
Bob Miller, Butte 87-90-89—266
Ed Strommen, Anaconda 91-93-92—276
J. T. Brownlee, Wolf Point 96-94-88—278
Phil Koterba, Lewistown 89-96-94—279
Larry Lett, Malta 101-95-94—290
Jim Campbell, Helena 102-99-90—291
Phil Maurer, Wilsall 95-102-94—291
Neil Dunham, Kalispell 108-90-95—293
Ron Ring, Billings 101-98-96—295
Tom Schneider, Helena 107-102-88—297
George Denton, Livingston 101-99-98—298
Tom Sullivan, Butte 106-98-99—303
Bob Breum, Havre 98-104-106—308
Flight 5
Dan Sundling, Livingston 88-89-89—266
Tom Vincent, Livingston 89-100-91—280
Ted Hodges, Columbia Falls 87-101-96—284
Gene Markuson, Circle 99-92-94—285
Dale Peterson, Billings 101-95-94—290
Dick Parker, Belgrade 102-98-92—292
Ron Scott, Missoula 99-103-90—292
Ole Patterson, Helena 97-97-99—293
Gordon Nelsen, Conrad 99-99-96—294
Jerry Kockler, Helena 100-98-107—305
Cecil Dalby, Glasgow 108-101-99—308
Tom Downs, Helena 102-109-103—314
Bob Roberts, Stevensville 108-107-111—326
Flight 6
Nicholas Papagni, Augusta 89-96-90—275
Phil Rognlien, Bigfork 100-101-98—299
James Hanson, Kalispell 102-104-94—300
Jim Heaton, Scobey 103-101-100—304
Loy Carroll, Manhattan 97-103-104—304
Jim Flagg, Lewistown 96-112-99—307
Tom Fleming, Jeffrsn City 105-105-98—308
Lonnie Bailey, Missoula 105-108-101—314
Jack Jensen, Missoula 101-109-108—318
Bob Gillette, Missoula 102-110-111—323
Jim Willits, Fort Benton 112-114-101—327
Roger Mead, Richey 123-128-116—367
Flight 7
Bob Wolfe, Bigfork 93-93-94—280
R. Blankenbaker, Bozeman 91-108-95—294
Wayne Riley, Lewistown 102-96-101—299
John Edwards, Three Frks 94-102-104—300
Bob Gersack, Livingston 105-102-97—304
Marvin Mathison, Lwstown 105-97-105—307
Ron Hanni, Butte 110-113-105—328
Andy Anderson, Stvnsvlle 108-114-110—332
Derk Turner, Stevensville 107-113-112—332
Bill Smith, Malta 112-113-108—333
Barry Remely, Bozeman 103-117-114—334
Bob Nelson, Fort Benton 118-132-WD
Senior (Ages 78+)
Flight 1
Everett Egbert, Belgrade 77-81-89—247*
Bob Lacy, Bigfork 80-85-84—249
Carl Henry, Bigfork 81-83-90—254
Lloyd Saunders, Bigfork 89-85-85—259
Jack Countryman, Big Sky 88-88-90—266
Dick Fish, Bozeman 91-93-85—269
Glenn Kozeluh, Missoula 92-90-90—272
Jim Hansen, Bigfork 91-90-95—276
Ken Arnett, Whitefish 102-92-83—277
Glen Christiansen, Twnsend 93-93-95—281
Max Burner, Helena 100-98-90—288
Larry Metzger, Bigfork 96-106-99—301
Flight 2
Ed Bezanson, Seeley Lake 100-99-106—305
D. Sauvageau, Three Frks 105-100-101—306
Harry Downs, Helena 97-104-108—309
Dale Edlund, Billings 99-105-109—313
John Dalby, Glasgow 107-112-100—319
Ed White, Great Falls 107-110-106—323
Jerry Nuckolls, Missoula 107-114-106—327
William Boley, Three Frks 108-113-113—334
Roland Grant, Billings 105-121-110—336
Doc Shull, Plains 118-113-115—346
Bob Bylund, Fort Benton 116-120-113—349
Jack Day, Bozeman 117-118-118—353
James Barfknecht Sr., Helena DNF-153-NS