MISSOULA – The greens were punched and it left a few golfers punchy Thursday, after the first round of the State AA golf championships at Larchmont Golf Course.

At the end of 18 holes Glacier’s boys were in a tight race for the title, putting four players in the 70s and sitting at 308 strokes, tied with Bozeman’s Gallatin High in second place. In first was Missoula Sentinel at 305.

Bozeman High built a big lead in the girls’ race by holding the top three spots after one round. The Hawks came in at 321 to 355 for Billings West and 357 for Butte and Billings Senior. Glacier and Flathead were well off the pace, each at 398.

Tyler Avery led the Wolfpack boys with a 74 in calm conditions. But a common themes were some tough pin placements and tougher greens. Avery birdied No. 17 to move to 1-over; then had a three-putt bogey on 18.

“I chipped in on 17 and that felt great,” said Avery, a sophomore. “Today was just kind of a grind. They punched the greens a couple weeks ago so you never knew where the putt was going to go.

“Whoever shot 2-under — that’s a good round.”

That would be Sentinel freshman Kade McDonough, whose 70 included four birdies. Avery and Gallatin’s Jordan and Justus Verge were all at 74. Glacier’s Will Salonen is alone in seventh at 76; teammates Sam Manaker and Keaton Cassidy are among seven players who shot 79 Thursday.

Manaker ran home a 22-foot birdie putt to close his round, but if he had the greens figured most did not.

“Every hole out there, you can’t sleep on because every one of them can get you,” Avery said. “That’s what happened out here today, to all of us.

“All of has our tap-ins that just didn’t go our way.”

For his part McDonough said he doesn’t play Larchmont much; his “home” course is Missoula Country Club, where the tournament concludes Friday.

“You can miss (the fairway) here but at the Country Club you have to miss it big, because then you’ll be in a different fairway,” McDonough said. “There, if you’re five yards off the fairway you have to punch it out.

“The greens are a little smaller, so if you can hit the green you have a chance at a birdie.”

McDonough claimed no surprise at his position in a field that includes defending medalist Justus Verge.

“No, not really — I was expecting to lead,” he said. “Confidence is through the roof.”

Flathead’s boys didn’t qualify as a team, and its top two golfers, Ezra Epperly and Joston Cripe, shot 80 and 85. Epperly is tied for 17th.

“He struck the ball well today,” Flathead assistant Phil Jackson, who followed the boys’ foursome Thursday, said. “Greens were playing really tough — for everybody — and he just wasn’t able to make as many putts as he’d normally make.

“We’re looking forward to tomorrow and having a little better day on the greens.”

Also having a rough day was Flathead’s Marcella Mercer, who for a time was just one shot off the pace before closing with an 83. She’s tied for eighth, seven strokes behind leader Cooper Knarr of Bozeman.

“She had a pretty decent ball-striking round overall, but her short game gave her trouble,” Flathead coach Roy Antley said. “Missed a lot of short putts. She had some real unfortunate lip-outs ­— on two consecutive holes from like 3, 4 feet — they caught the edge, did a 360 and came back out. Just one of those days.”

“She’s dug herself a hole, but I think she still has a chance. I know she’ll come back and play as hard as she can tomorrow.”

Flathead’s Jillian Wynne fired an 86 to set 13th after one round. Glacier had three girls shoot in the 90s: Alana Griffin, Chloe Tanner and Stella Claridge.

Glacier’s boys promise the most excitement for Friday.

“I think for us, putting four rounds in the 70s means we’re going to stay in contention,” Salonen said. “Hopefully tomorrow at the country club we can go low.”

‘I think we did well but there’s definitely some room to improve,” Avery added. “I think tomorrow we’re going to see it.”

The final day of State AA golf action begins today with a 10:30 a.m. shotgun start at Missoula Country Club.

2020 State AA Golf

Thursday

Larchmont Golf Club,

Missoula

Par 72

Boys

Top 15 Individuals

Kade McDonough, Sentinel 70

Tyler Avery, Glacier 74

Jordan Verge, Gallatin 74

Justus Verge, Gallatin 74

Treyden Haber, Billings West 75

Stevie Voight, Gallatin 76

Will Salonen, Glacier 76

Eli Groshelle, CMR 77

Jaden Dennis, Sentinel 77

Tyler Brunner, Billings Senior 79

Keaton Cassidy, Glacier 79

Sam Manaker, Glacier 79

Zach Hangas, Sentinel 79

Joe Opitz, Sentinel 79

Caswell Bloomquist, Capital 79

Logan Connolly, Skyview 79

Team scores - Sentinel 305, Glacier 308, Gallatin 308, Senior 331, Capital 335, West 340, CMR 343, Hellgate 351.

FLATHEAD - Ezra Epperly 80, Joston Cripe 85, Kadin Gall 91, Drew Lowry 92.

GLACIER – Avery 74, Salonen 76, Cassidy 79, Manaker 79, Coby Kunda 88.

Girls

Top 15 Individuals

Cooper Knarr, Bozeman 76

Sami Yates, Bozeman 78

Franchi Ceartin, Bozeman 79

Ella Prigge, Butte 79

Kadence Fischer, Billings West 81

Halle Vandersloot, Gallatin 81

Kodie Hoagland, Butte 82

Marcella Mercer, Flathead 83

Kenzie Walsh, Billings Senior 83

Celi Chapman, Helena 83

Sami Benson, Billings Senior 85

Lauren Williams, Helena 85

Jillian Wynne, Flathead 86

Lexi McNew, Capital 87

Addiley Lloyd, Gallatin 87

Team scores - Bozeman 321, Billings West 355, Butte 357, Senior 357, Capital 382, Skyview 383, Flathead 397, Glacier 398.

FLATHEAD – Mercer 83, Wynne 86, McKinlie Murer 108, Marijayne Reed 120, Sophia Dykhuizen 122.

GLACIER – Alana Griffin 93, Chloe Tanner 94, Stella Claridge 96, Kenna Sandler 115, Colette Daniels 122.