Polson’s Max Milton among 4 tied for lead at State Am

HELENA — There is a four-way tie for first place after the opening round of the 109th Montana State Men’s Amateur Championships at Green Meadow Country Club in Helena, Thursday, and Polson’s Max Milton is one of the four. 

Milton, Kade McDonough of Missoula, Carson Hackmann of Laurel and Caleb Myers of Lewistown all shot 3-under 67s.  

McDonough, a three-time Montana State Match Play champion and the runnerup at lat year’s State Am, collected four birdies plus an eagle on the par-5 eleventh hole.  

Myers, who is known for his cross handed grip, collected seven birdies; Hackmann had six birdies and Milton, who’ll be a senior at Polson High this fall, birdied four holes and had one bogey.  

In a tie for fifth place is defending champ Payton Taylor of Missoula and Ian Mackenzie-Olson of Great Falls. Both shot 68.  

Taylor had a colorful scorecard with six birdies and four bogeys, while Mackenzie-Olson had three birdies and a bogey.  

Also in the top 10 were Joe Mcgreevey of Helena and Sean Ramsbacher of Missoula, tied for seventh at 1-under 69. In a tie for ninth at 70 are Sawyer Gentry of Livingston and Chase Choquette of Butte.  

Choquette is the reigning Schwartz Award winner, for the lowest scoring junior player.  

Some familiar faces were atop the Senior Amateur leaderboard Wednesday, with  Montana Golf Hall of Famer Bill Dunn (Missoula) in the top spot with a first-round score of 3-over 74. Dunn’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 eighth  hole, along with birdies on seven and sixteen.  

Among those on a three-way tie for second place at 75 was defending  Senior Amateur champion Jerry Pearsall of Billings. Whitefish’s Brad Grattan, the 2022 State Seniors champion, and Bozeman’s Troy Bentson also shot 75. 

Live scoring and tournament recaps can also be found at MSGAGolf.org or the Golf Genius app with the following GGID: 26MSGAMA.