Avery, Johnston win Big 'I' qualifier
BOZEMAN — Kalispell’s Teigan Avery and Libby’s Ryggs Johnston went low on Thursday at the Montana Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior Golf Classic at Bridger Creek Golf Course, each winning their age group to advance to the national championship in August.
Avery led by one stroke entering the day, but took advantage of some tough pin placement to pull away from the field.
While a “boring” round by her standards, with two bogeys and one birdie to go with 15 pars, her second consecutive 1-over-par 72 was enough to win by six strokes, finishing one stroke shy of her own tournament record.
“It was a really steady round,” Avery said. “Pretty much uneventful. It was steady through the day and the other girls struggled a bit. I just kept it right around par.
“The pins were really tough today, just ridiculously hard. I was able to make a few putts and get my up and downs to keep it 1-over. Can’t complain.”
Billings’ Kortney McNeil shot a second-round 77 to finish second and also qualify for the national tournament August 3-6 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchison, Kansas. Prairie Dunes was rated No. 25 in the nation in the Golf Digest Top 100.
The Big “I” national championship is the third-oldest junior golf event in the U.S.
Whitefish’s Coral Schulz, who qualified for nationals last year, finished in a tie for fifth.
Avery, who finished near the bottom of the leaderboard last season, said she feels much more comfortable entering this season’s national championships.
“Last year in West Virginia was beautiful and the tournament was probably the most well-run tournament I’ve been to,” Avery said. “I’m looking forward to going again and hopefully play better now that I know what the atmosphere is like.”
Johnston ran away with the 14-15 year-old boys division on the second day of play, recovering from a one-stroke deficit entering the final round to shoot a 4-under-par 67 on Thursday to win the event by three strokes over opening-round leader Joey Moore of Billings.
Polson’s Carson McDaniel finished in a tie for fourth with a two-round score of 162 and Kalispell’s Andrew Grande was in eighth with a 169.
Kalispell’s Tyler Avery, the younger brother of Teigan, won the 13-and-under boys division by shooting a two-round total of 182.
Bigfork’s Ryan Keenan finished in fifth in the boys 16-18 division, shooting 150, five strokes back of Billings’ Sean Benson.
Avery and Johnston also won earlier this week at the Montana State Junior Championship District 1 qualifier at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Monday. Johnston set a new junior course record on the North Course, shooting a 7-under-par 65 to win the 14-15 division by 14 strokes.
McDaniel finished fourth in the division, Grande fifth and Polson’s Matt Hobbs was sixth to all advance to the state junior tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday in Polson. Bigfork’s Tommy Mann shot a 73 to win the boys 16-17 division by four strokes over Whitefish’s Joey Walp and Libby’s Jonny Cielak.
Tyler Avery finished in a tie for third to advance out of the 13-and-under division.
Teigan Avery was one stroke shy of the course record, shooting a 75 to win the 16-17 girls division by one stroke over Schulz. Whitefish’s Holly Hileman finished fourth and twin sister Hayley Hileman tied for fifth with Kalispell’s McKenna Tinseth to advance to the state tourney.
Kalispell’s Kate Trunkle finished second in the 14-15 division to advance.
Teigan won the 16-17 division last season at the state junior championships in Laurel and Johnston won the 14-15 boys division.
Montana Trusted Choice
Big “I” Junior Classic
Thursday
at Bidger Creek Golf Course, Bozeman
13-and-under Boys
Tyler Avery, Kalispell 88-94—182
Ramey Lloyd, Bozeman 111-107—218
14-15 Boys
Top 10
Ryggs Johnston, Libby 71-67—138
Joey Moore, Billings 70-71—141
Braxton Humphrey, Billings 79-79—158
Bucky Crippen, Missoula 83-79—162
Carson McDaniel, Polson 81-81—162
J.R. Small, Bozeman 79-87—166
Tucker Thomas, Great Falls 85-81—166
Andrew Grande, Kalispell 83-86—169
Paul O’Neil, Laurel 88-83—171
Brady Cady, Billings 85-92—177
16-18 Boys
Top 10
Sean Benson, Billings 71-69—140
Caleb Stetzner, Anaconda 69-73—142
Colton Hudson, Huntley 77-68—145
Tyson Odden, Bozeman 74-71—145
Ryan Keenan, Bigfork 73-77—150
Easton Enott, Great Falls 74-77—151
Caleb Trost, Billings 77-74—151
Cory Preshinger, Helena 76-76—152
Mark Solomon, Great Falls 77-75—152
Austin Walter, Billings 78-74—152
Payton Stott, Billings 79-73—152
14-18 Girls
Top 10
Teigan Avery, Kalispell 72-72—144
Kortney McNeil, Billings 73-77—150
Sadie Crippen, Missoula 76-77—153
Shealyn Hafer, Butte 73-81—154
Anna Demars, Townsend 84-72—156
Morgan O’Neil, Laurel 75-81—156
Coral Schulz, Whitefish 76-80—156
Tana House, Columbus 83-83-166
Tanna Campbell, Big Timber 84-85—169
Lynzee Dexter, Townsend 85-89—174
Montana State Junior Championship District 1 Qualifier
Monday at Whitefish Lake Golf Club
Qualifiers
13-and-under Boys
Ethan Brown, Thompson Falls 84
Malachi Nicholas, Seeley Lake 85
Tyler Avery, Kalispell 90
Dylan Nordberg, Missoula 90
14-15 Boys
Ryggs Johnston, Libby 65*
Daniel Crippen, Missoula 79
Tyler Flink, Missoula 82
Carson McDaniel, Polson 83
Anrew Grande, Kalispell 85
Matt Hobbs, Polson 88
16-17 Boys
Tommy Mann, Bigfork 73
Joey Walp, Whitefish 77
Jonny Cielak, Libby 77
Max Toenjes, Hamilton 77
13-and-under Girls
Macee Greenwood, Corvallis 111
14-15 Girls
Lauren Peterson, Missoula 98
Kate Trunkle, Kalispell 143
16-17 Girls
Teigan Avery, Kalispell 75
Coral Schulz, Whitefish 76
Sydni Rose, Hamilton 88
Holly Hileman, Whitefish 98
McKenna Tinseth, Kalispell 100
Hayley Hileman, Whitefish 100