Acharya, Johnson tied after first 18 of 4th of July golf
Jasi Acharya, the 2018 women's champion, watches her drive off the 16th tee of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Marcella Mercer, of Kalispell, watches her approach shot on the 14th hole of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Will Salonen, from Kalispell, watches his tee shot on the 16th tee of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Defending champion Cora Rosanova putts on the 15th green of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Shawn Tucker, of Whitefish, watches his drive off the first tee of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Dan Conkling, of Whitefish, watches his drive off the first tee of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Defending champion Cora Rosanova watches her drive off the 16th tee of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Marty Mehl watches his drive off the first tee of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Lauren Nielson watches her drive off the 16th tee of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Sean Ramsbacher, the 2019 men's champion, watches his drive off the first tee of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Marcella Mercer, of Kalispell, watches her approach shot on the 14th hole of the North Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Tyler Avery, from Kalispell, watches his approach shot on the 5th hole of the South Course during the opening round of the Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament at Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Thursday, July 1. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
WHITEFISH — Jasi Acharya and Isabella Johnson ended the first day of the 85th Annual Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament tied for first place, both carding a 72 on the North Course of Whitefish Lake Golf Club.
Acharya, of Carver, Minn., won the event in 2018. Johnson is a high school sophomore from Billings.
Defending champion Cora Rosanova of Bozeman is still in striking position, tied for fourth with Laurel’s Morgan O’Neil at 76 strokes.
Recent Flathead graduate and standout high school golfer Marcella Mercer is two strokes behind Rosanova and is tied for sixth place with Janell Tanner-O’Neal.
Joey Moore of Billings, also a rising senior at San Diego State University, leads the men’s championship flight with 62 strokes, 9-under the 71 par South Course and by far the best round of the day.
Riley Lawrence of Helena and Jason Johnstone of Scottsdale, Ariz. tied for second, are six strokes behind Moore.
Carding 69 strokes each were Ross Kronberg of New Canaan, CT, Robert Hasquet of Missoula, Ben Hayes and 2018 champion Andrew Medley of Scottsdale.
The 2019 winner, Sean Ramsbacher of Missoula, is tied for eighth with Oscar Maxfield and Payton Taylor. All three carded 1-under par for the day.
Glacier High School’s Tyler Avery carded 73 in his round and is tied for 20th with five other players.
Libby’s Joe Cielak finished the day with 73 strokes to lead the senior men’s field. Greg Hetzer and Rod Brady, both of Whitefish, were plus-4 and tied for second place.
Today’s rounds are set to tee off at 9 a.m. The men’s field will play the South Course and the women the North Course. Senior men will also play the North Course.
The Friday night derby is set to start as the day’s top finishers complete their rounds. Ten teams will be made out of the top 16 men’s and women after the second day of play.
85th Annual Earl Hunt 4th of July Tournament
Whitefish Lake Golf Club
July 1-3
Women’s Championship Flight
Jasi Acharya Carver, MN 72
Isabella Johnson Billings 72
Shelby DeVore 74
Cora Rosanova Bozeman 76
Morgan O’Neil Laurel 76
Marcella Mercer Bigfork 78
Janell Tanner-O’Neal 78
Lauren Ward Bozeman 78
Darah Newell Smith 79
Lauren Nielsen Belgrade 80
Cathie Tronson Great Falls 80
Marcy Holt Spokane, WA 80
Rikka Holiday Bozeman 81
Marcia Reimers Missoula 82
Emily Kelly Butte 82
Kathy Dodd Whitefish 82
Hannah Rosanova Bozeman 83
Kenzie Walsh Billings 84
Bobbie Lacklen Libby 85
Liz Hewson Whitefish 86
Cheryl Breidenbach Sammamish, Wash. 86
Cheryl Walter Lethbridge, Alta., CA 86
Jeannette Cheney Columbia Falls 87
Karen Jacobson Whitefish 89
Tracey Whisenhand Whitefish 89
Ruth Fenn Libby 89
Trina Diehl 90
Stacy Denning Whitefish 90
Jen Warden Boise, ID 92
Louise Cholette-Haley Polson 92
Linda Ray 93
Michelle Alamo Englewood, CO 96
Kristin Hetzer Whitefish 101
Men’s Championship Flight
Joey Moore Billings 62
Riley Lawrence Helena 68
Jason Johnstone Scottsdale, AZ 68
Ross Kronberg New Canaan, CT 69
Robert Hasquet Missoula 69
Andrew Medley Scottsdale, AZ 69
Ben Hayes 69
Payton Taylor Hamilton 70
Oscar Maxfield 70
Devin Carrey 71
Cameron Hackmann Laurel 71
Justin Dorr Spokane, WA 71
Liam Clancy Billings 71
Benjamin Kodadek Tampa, FL 72
Philip Vilar Whitefish 72
Joey Lovell Bozeman 72
Brian Hanson San Diego, CA 72
Scott Friggle Austin, TX 73
Connor Bennett Lakeville, MN 73
Tyler Avery Kalispell 73
Bill Dunn Missoula 73
Conor Rooney Whitefish 73
Brice Warden Boise, ID 74
Jack Johnston Missoula 74
Chris Goldan Bozeman 74
Eli Groshelle Great Falls 75
Tyler Schiff Columbia City, IN 75
Zach Maassen Kalispell 75
Darren Rowell Castle Rock, CO 75
Max Kleinecke Novato, CA 75
Kevin Kolb Spearfish, SD 75
Paull Veroulis Kalispell 75
Mark Mance Whitefish 75
Tristan Hanson Hamilton 75
Dan Conkling Whitefish 75
Men’s Senior Flight
Joe Cielak Libby 73
Greg Hetzer Whitefish 74
Rod Brady Whitefish 74
Tommy Lindell Kalispell 76
Andy Breidenbach Sammamish, WA 76
Ron Ramsbacher Missoula 77
Nalin Maxfield Salt Lake City, UT 77
Chris Viludich Kalispell 78
Jim O’Neil Laurel 79
Terry Aikin Englewood, CO 79
Gary Holt Spokane, WA 79
Stephen Solberg Billings 79
John Velk Missoula 81
John Brubaker Whitefish 81
Baker Montgomery Dallas, TX 82
Larry Schwenke Coeur d’Alene, ID 82
Rick Reimers Missoula 83
Todd Ward Bozeman 83
Bill Le Lievre Whitefish 83
Fred Gunville 83
Michael Bailey Scottsdale, AZ 83
Bill Kleinecke Novato, CA 84
Dave Lucey Marietta, GA 84
Dave Streeter Whitefish 84
Brian Cripe Whitefish 84
