(Editor’s note: Montana State Golf Association release)
BUTTE — The 101st Montana State Amateur Champion is Ryggs Johnston of Libby. Johnston concluded his tournament at Butte Country Club with a round of 67 (-3) for a three-round total of 197 (-13). Johnston finished eight shots clear of Joey Lovell at 205 (-5). Lovell, of Bozeman closed with 67 in his final round to finish runner up.
Johnston, who will be entering his senior year of high school, was competing in his first State Amateur. The state amateur newcomer is no stranger to trophy collecting – he is a three-time high school state champion along with a host of other junior titles both in and outside of the Treasure State.
Johnston entered the final round with a seven shot cushion and played the front nine in one-under-par with a birdie on three and making the par on the other eight holes. Johnston’s steady round picked up as he made three consecutive birdies on holes 12-14. Johnston’s only blemish on the scorecard for his final round was a bogey on hole 16 after driving through the green on his par four tee shot.
The tournament offered warm temperatures; mild wind and conditions that allowed for good scoring on accurate approach shots. Butte Country Club features smaller, turtle-shaped greens, making for some challenging up and downs in the short game and sharp breaking putts. While many struggled, Johnston certainly did not have much trouble collecting 19 birdies and making only six bogeys over the three days.
Johnston will begin his senior year at Libby High School this fall and has committed to Arizona State for golf. While accurate birthdate data is not available for all 101 Amateur Champions, Johnston is likely the youngest champion.
Lovell made four birdies during his final round en route to his 67. Billings golfer and reigning Montana State Junior Champion, Joey Moore, placed third after shooting 71 on his final round, despite making four birdies. His 208 total was one better than fellow final-group competitor Josh Hedge, also of Billings. Hedge, who won three-consecutive State Amateurs from 2005-2007, shot 72 in his final round.
Tate Tatom of Big Sky and the Air Force Academy made seven birdies en route to 67 and a tie at 210 with Bozeman’s Chris Goldan who shot even-par 70.
Garrett Woodin of Laurel and MSU-Billings made six birdies in an even par round of 70 and Billings’ Colton Hudson who’s back nine 31 gave him a 68 to tie Woodin at 211.
Rounding out the top ten was Payton Taylor of Hamilton, who closed with 67 for a 212 total and Sean Benson of Montana Tech and originally of Billings managed four consecutive birdies on holes 10-13, ending with 72 and 214 overall.
Defending champion, Caleb Stetzner of Anaconda shot 70 and tied 11th at 216 with Missoula’s Sean Ramsbacher.
Johnston and reigning Montana State Mid-Amateur Champion, Joe Cielak of Libby brought home the Barnett Trophy for the low two-day, two-player score from the same club. Cielak and Johnston play at Cabinet View Golf Club in Libby.
Complete results from the 101st Montana Men’s State Amateur can be found below.
1 Johnston, Ryggs 18 -13 -3 68 62 67 197
2 Lovell, Joey 18 -5 -3 69 69 67 205
3 Moore, Joey 18 -2 +1 69 68 71 208
4 Hedge, Josh 18 -1 +2 70 67 72 209
T5 Tatom, Tate 18 E -3 70 73 67 210
T5 Goldan, Chris 18 E E 69 71 70 210
T7 Hudson, Colton 18 +1 -2 71 72 68 211
T7 Woodin, Garrett 18 +1 E 70 71 70 211
9 Taylor, Payton 18 +2 -3 74 71 67 212
10 Benson, Sean 18 +4 +2 69 73 72 214
T11 Ramsbacher, S. 18 +6 -1 75 72 69 216
T11 Stetzner, Caleb 18 +6 E 75 71 70 216
T13 Williams, M. 18 +7 +1 71 75 71 217
T13 Leach, Bill 18 +7 +5 73 69 75 217
T13 Thorsen, Jack 18 +7 -1 74 74 69 217
T13 Drange, Marcus 18 +7 +7 67 73 77 217
17 Clancy, Liam 18 +8 +2 71 75 72 218
18 Kim, HoTae 18 +9 -1 73 77 69 219
T19 Hoagland, Trey 18 +10 E 74 76 70 220
T19 Kaercher, Riley 18 +10 +4 74 72 74 220
T21 Heller, Parker 18 +11 +3 76 72 73 221
T21 Crippen, Bucky 18 +11 +1 79 71 71 221
T21 Donoven, Jordy 18 +11 +2 76 73 72 221
T21 Dunn, Bill 18 +11 +2 72 77 72 221
T21 Lindholm, Logan 18 +11 +6 70 75 76 221
T21 Doughty, Deven 18 +11 +5 77 69 75 221
T21 Rhodes, Jace 18 +11 +4 70 77 74 221
T21 Bickford, Tyson 18 +11 +8 72 71 78 221
T29 Kirkeby, Brady 18 +12 E 71 81 70 222
T29 Lawrence, Riley 18 +12 +2 75 75 72 222
T29 O’Neil, Paul 18 +12 +5 75 72 75 222
32 Martin, Bridger 18 +13 +5 76 72 75 223
T33 Hasquet, Bob 18 +14 -1 74 81 69 224
T33 Williams, S. 18 +14 +5 78 71 75 224
T35 McDaniel, C. 18 +15 +3 77 75 73 225
T35 Mora, Connor 18 +15 +2 74 79 72 225
T35 Kaul, Ben 18 +15 +8 73 74 78 225
T35 Casey, Kelly 18 +15 +4 77 74 74 225
T39 MacIntyre, B. 18 +16 +2 75 79 72 226
T39 Johnston, Jack 18 +16 +6 72 78 76 226
T39 Ramsbacher, Ron 18 +16 +9 72 75 79 226
T39 Houser, Mark 18 +16 +5 75 76 75 226
T39 Trost, Caleb 18 +16 +10 72 74 80 226
T44 Brown, Peter 18 +17 +4 79 74 74 227
T44 Pasquarello, N. 18 +17 +9 72 76 79 227
T46 Green, Houston 18 +20 +5 78 77 75 230
T46 Kovach, Dj 18 +20 +10 78 72 80 230
T46 O’Rourke, P. 18 +20 +14 71 75 84 230
T46 Mocabee, Bryce 18 +20 +8 76 76 78 230
50 Cielak, Joe 18 +21 +7 75 79 77 231
T51 Stetzner, Ty 18 +22 +8 77 77 78 232
T51 Wolff, Derek 18 +22 +9 76 77 79 232
T51 Small, J.R. 18 +22 +4 78 80 74 232
T54 Bartell, Ross 18 +23 +5 78 80 75 233
T54 Cords, Matt 18 +23 +9 76 78 79 233
56 Schulte, Luke 18 +24 +6 83 75 76 234
T57 Zemljak, Fred 18 +25 +8 79 78 78 235
T57 Cady, Brady 18 +25 +7 75 83 77 235
T57 Rife, Earl 18 +25 +5 84 76 75 235
T57 Hanson, Tristan 18 +25 +10 77 78 80 235
T57 Hobbs, Matt 18 +25 +9 79 77 79 235
62 Opitz, Joe 18 +26 +14 77 75 84 236
T63 Taylor, Zach 18 +28 +8 83 77 78 238
T63 Faechner, Jerry 18 +28 +9 83 76 79 238
65 Delaney, Chris 18 +29 +14 76 79 84 239
T66 Kahle, Cameron 18 +30 +7 79 84 77 240
T66 Seifert, Tyler 18 +30 +14 79 77 84 240
T66 Lindsoe, Keagan 18 +30 +16 78 76 86 240
T69 Roberts, Berry 18 +31 +10 76 85 80 241
T69 Wright, Travis 18 +31 +13 82 76 83 241
T71 Benson, Peter 18 +32 +4 82 86 74 242
T71 Loberg, Blake 18 +32 +4 89 79 74 242
T71 Dietzen, Nick 18 +32 +13 80 79 83 242
T71 Wolff, Troy 18 +32 +15 78 79 85 242
T71 O’Neil, Jim 18 +32 +10 77 85 80 242
T76 Brunner, Cody 18 +33 +10 78 85 80 243
T76 Holten, Philip 18 +33 +20 74 79 90 243
T78 Manger, Rielly 18 +34 +5 89 80 75 244
T78 Reed, Bryce 18 +34 +14 80 80 84 244
T78 Luce, Mark 18 +34 +12 82 80 82 244
T81 Meddock, Dylon 18 +35 +9 84 82 79 245
T81 Garlati, Robert 18 +35 +15 79 81 85 245
T83 Hasquet, Blake 18 +36 +8 80 88 78 246
T83 Weldon, Isaiah 18 +36 +17 77 82 87 246
85 Oppelt, Winston 18 +37 +18 76 83 88 247
T86 McDaniel, David 18 +38 +13 79 86 83 248
T86 Martin, Logan 18 +38 +13 79 86 83 248
T86 Burwell, Bill 18 +38 +12 79 87 82 248
T86 Lloyd, Ramey 18 +38 +15 79 84 85 248
90 Oppelt, Colton 18 +39 +14 85 80 84 249
T91 Nedens, Adam 18 +40 +12 86 82 82 250
T91 Babb, Stephen 18 +40 +19 81 80 89 250
T93 Vidulich, Chris 18 +41 +15 88 78 85 251
T93 Sullivan, J. 18 +41 +11 91 79 81 251
T93 Whitted, Brock 18 +41 +18 81 82 88 251
T93 Kaul, Matt 18 +41 +23 78 80 93 251
T97 VanHoy, Jason 18 +42 +9 86 87 79 252
T97 Tedlund, Daniel 18 +42 +13 89 80 83 252
T97 Voelker, Jason 18 +42 +15 85 82 85 252
100 Frye, Kyle 18 +43 +19 83 81 89 253
101 Gruener, Matt 18 +44 +17 82 85 87 254
T102 Smith, Travis 18 +46 +8 94 84 78 256
T102 Kessler, Connor 18 +46 +16 86 84 86 256
104 Wuest, Adam 18 +48 +15 85 88 85 258
105 Epperly, Ezra 18 +49 +15 83 91 85 259
106 Tipton, Will 18 +51 +15 89 87 85 261
T107 Hanson, Tanner 18 +53 +21 89 83 91 263
T107 Micheletti, N. 18 +53 +21 92 80 91 263
109 Stiles, Troy 18 +55 +16 90 89 86 265
110 Nebel, Curtis 18 +58 +14 95 89 84 268
111 Schack, Jake 18 +68 +26 82 100 96 278
