Polson's Milton leads after day one at A State Golf
POLSON — Max Milton feels right at home, and so do the boys from Billings Central and Laurel.
While Polson’s Milton shot a 6-under 66 to take the first-day lead at the State A tournament Friday on his home course, it was the Central Rams and Laurel Locomotives who dove under 300 strokes in the team race.
In fact Billings Central is on pace for a sweep; the Ram girls built a 26-stroke lead on the first day, with 341 strokes to 367 for Whitefish.
Whitefish is also third among the boys teams, at 306, just ahead of Corvallis (309).
Frenchtown’s Katie Lewis, meanwhile, opened with a 75 for a 5-stroke lead in her quest for a third straight State A medalist honor.
The tournament concludes Saturday.
Hunting Birdies
Milton started on No. 10, birdied 18 at the turn and then strung together five birdies and shot 31 coming in.
He has a one-stroke lead over Colin Jensen of Billings Central; Central’s Caleb Fornshell shot 68 to sit third.
Jensen, playing one group behind Milton, made the turn at 2-under and shot 33 coming in. He and Fornshell led the Rams to a 292 team total, five strokes ahead of Laurel.
Laurel’s Sam Norman was one of three players to shoot 70, along with Mason O’Neil of Whitefish and Livingston’s Sawyer Gentry.
The Locomotives also have Cam Hackman (74, tied for seventh with Aden Rickels of Whitefish), Gabe Glassing and Zander Harmala among the top 22 golfers.
CJ Thew shot 78 to join Rickels and O’Neil as Bulldog golfers in the top 16. Whitefish scored 306 Friday, and Corvallis was next at 309.
Columbia sits fifth at 324. Will Pickard is just outside the top 15 at 76; teammate Winslow
Peters shot 79 and is tied for 23rd for the Wildcats.
Corvallis was led Friday by Tag and Tate Jessop, who both had 76s and are tied for 11th. Brady Powell, second at state a year go for the Blue Devils, shot 79 Friday.
3-peat In Range
Lewis set herself up nicely for Saturday with a one-birdie round.
Bigfork’s Keni Wade, who was State B medalist in the spring of 2022, fired an 80 and is tied for second with Livingston’s Anna Lende and Hamilton’s Cameron Burnett.
Now far down the list were Billings Central golfers Berkley Park, (82), Jordan Nielsen (82), Kiya Ford (86) and Kaitlin Ferris and Anna Prill (both 91).
Five players in the top 15 is usually going to bode well, and Billings Centrals total of 341 is quite a bit lower than the 367 put up by Whitefish and third-place Frenchtown (369). Hamilton is in fourth at 372.
Karlee Brown shot an 83 and Stella Jaffe 86 for the Bulldogs.
Play is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Saturday. Fans can follow results at mhsa.org or golfgenius.com. The GGID is 24STATEA
State A Tournament
Friday, Polson Bay Golf Club
BOYS
Team scores — 1, Billings Central 292; 2, Laurel 297; 3, Whitefish 306; 4, Corvallis 309; 5, Columbia Falls 324; 6, Sidney 326; 7, Livingston 328; 8, Frenchtown 334; 9, Havre 359.
Individual Top 15
Max Milton, Polson 66
Colin Jensen, Billings Central 67
Caleb Fornshell, Billings Central 68
Sam Norman, Laurel 70
Sawyer Gentry, Livingston 70
Mason O’Neil, Whitefish 70
Aden Rickels, Whitefish 74
Cam Hackmann, Laurel 74
Tyce O’Connell, Hamilton 75
Gabe Glassing, Laurel 75
Tag Jessop, Corvallis 76
Tate Jessop, Corvallis 76
Ethan Miller, Billings Central 76
Tanner Tiesen, Sidney 76
Isaac Flamand, Browning 78
GIRLS
Team scores — 1, Billings Central 341; 2, Whitefish 367; 3, Frenchtown 369; 4, Hamilton 372; 5, Dillon 380; 6, Livingston 381; 7, Bigfork 401; 8, Sidney 425; 9, Havre 441.
Individual Top 15
Katie Lewis, Frenchtown 75
Keni Wade, Bigfork 80
Anna Lende, Livingston 80
Berkley Park, Billings Central 82
Jordan Nielson, Billings Central 82
Karlee Brown, Whitefish 83
Stella Jaffe, Whitefish 86
Alivia Kuhr, Laurel 86
Kiya Ford, Billings Central 86
Tayler Hadley, East Helena 88
Skyler LaPierre, Dillon 89
Briley Alberi, Dillon 89
Camille Poncin, Livingston 89
Bryn Cianflone, Hamilton 89
Brynn Drga, Miles City 89