The Daily Inter Lake

WHITEFISH - The pressure never got to Jens Bracht and Rose Stepanek.

With the field chasing and the heat increasing, both Bracht and Stepanek held on to win the 73rd Annual Fourth of July Tournament at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club on Saturday.

Bracht shot a 1-under 70 in the final round for a three-day total of 207 to earn his first men's title. Bracht led a field of 195 competitors from the start and went 68-69-70 in 54 holes of golf over three days. His closest competition came on the final day when Cory Mehl stepped up huge in the final round, shooting a 5-under 66 for second place with a 211.

Stepanek led by as many as seven strokes after the second day and carded a 4-over 76 to cap her three days at 223, winning by six strokes. Ashley Griffith came in second after shooting a 75 in her final round for a 229. Whitefish's Chelsea Ray rallied after shooting a 10-over 82 on Friday and

finished with a 75, good enough for third place with a 234.

Robb Bergeson shot an even 71 for the second day in a row to take third on the men's side with 214. Bergeson won in 2007 and lost in a playoff at last year's tournament.

Sam Krause went 69-71 in the final two rounds for a 215 and fourth place, one stroke ahead of Larry Iverson, who shot back-to-back 73s Friday and Saturday to wrap with a 216 and fourth place.

Iverson is headed off to the University of Washington next fall to play golf for the Division I college team. Iverson's former teammate Glacier High senior Grahm Schmaltz made an impressive push on the final day and shot a 1-under 70 to jump into eighth place.

One name of note that came up a lot was Crippen. There were three Crippen women in the top 15 on the ladies' side. Maggie Crippen shot a 251 for 11th place, Marianne was four shots back in 13th place and Kelsie shot a 260 for 15th place.

The 73rd Annual Fourth of July Golf Tournament

Whitefish Lake Golf Club

Saturday's results

Final round

Top Men

South Course, Par 71

Jens Bracht 68-69-70 - 207

Cory Mehl 75-70-66 - 211

Robb Bergeson 72-71-71 - 214

Sam Krause 75-69-71 - 215

Larry Iverson 70-73-73 - 216

Spencer Williams 72-74-71 - 217

Cory Slocum 73-73-72 - 218

Grahm Schmaltz 72-77-70 - 219

Howard Broun 75-72-73 - 220

Mark Mance 72-77-71 - 220

Jeff Allen 72-74-75 - 221

Chris Conners 74-72-76 - 222

Lindsay Woolley 73-75-74 - 222

Ryan Santa 71-75-76 - 222

Barry Barker 70-73-80 - 223

Dave Morberg 73-78-72 - 223

Shawn Tucker 77-74-72 - 223

Jake Wagner 73-72-78 - 223

Geoff Oliphant 75-78-71 - 224

Steve Williamson 72-76-76 - 224

Craig Hulbert 75-73-77 - 225

Marcus Williams 76-76-73 - 225

Bennett MacIntyre 78-75-73 - 226

Travis Gates 69-79-78 - 226

Eric Reimers 75-78-73 - 226

Dirk Cloninger 72-80-75 - 227

Chris Goldan 80-75-73 - 228

Colin Gunstream 77-75-76 - 228

Jon Johnstone 73-77-78 - 228

Carroll Lilly 71-81-76 - 228

Steve Lucas 76-79-73 - 228

Jamey Perlinski 80-75-73 - 228

Ryan Buls 71-79-78 - 228

Tim Kiley 76-73-79 - 228

Akku Acharya 71-74-84 - 229

Michael Kennedy 71-74-84 - 229

Rich Boswell 74-74-82 - 230

Joe Johnston 74-79-77 - 230

Women

North Course, Par 72

Rose Stepanek 69-78-76 - 223

Ashley Griffith 79-75-75 - 229

Chelsea Ray 77-82-75 - 234

Marcy Holt 75-79-82 - 236

Darah Newell 75-80-83 - 238

Jenifer Orcutt 79-85-77 - 241

Karen Jacobson 83-83-81 - 247

Emily Slayton 84-81-83 - 248

Jody Fee 81-80-87 - 248

Lindsay Erickson 86-81-83 - 250

Maggie Crippen 82-88-81 - 251

Kiley McConnell 85-82-87 - 254

Marianne Crippen 81-86-88 - 255

Amber Griffith 87-86-83 - 256

Kelsie Crippen 89-82-89 - 260

Kylie Perlinski 93-81-87 - 261

Fay Ferraro 89-89-84 - 262

Mary Armstrong 85-86-91 - 262

Marcia Reimers 86-87-92 - 265

Debbie Jackson 87-91-87 - 265

Linda Ray 83-93-89 - 265