McDonough edges out Milton for Montana State Men's Am

HELENA — The final round of the 109th Montana State Men’s Amateur delivered an unbelievable finish, leading to a trio of Missoula golfers sweeping all three championships.

Coming down to the final two groups of the Men’s Championship, three-time MSGA Match  

Play champion, Missoula’s Kade McDonough, led by two strokes over Polson’s Max Milton as he teed off on the 18th hole. However, McDonough’s ball flew into a pine tree on the left side of the hole and never came down. His younger brother and caddie, Karson McDonough, even climbed halfway up the evergreen looking to identify the ball for an “unplayable lie” but couldn’t before the three-minute search was over and the ball was deemed lost.  

After re-teeing, McDonough finished the final hole with a double bogey — the only blemish to a round that included seven birdies) and no bogeys to that point. The unlucky break led McDonough to finish at minus-9 over three rounds and tied things up with Milton as the rising junior at Polson High School approached the 18th hole.  

“I had that happen before, where my ball got stuck in a tree on the 17th hole and I lost,” McDonough said. “So felt a little like deja vu, but I reset and had a nice two-putt there to save double.” 

But after Milton got on the green in two, he left his 25-foot birdie putt five-feet short for the win.  

With an uncomfortable tester left to force a playoff hole, Milton bent over in agony as his putt lipped out, crowning McDonough as the 2026 Men’s overall champion.  

With the victory, McDonough earned his first Montana State Amateur title, adding a second MSGA Championship to his collection this summer after he won the 2026 Montana State Match play earlier this month.  

The first-place finish also earned the recent Abilene Christian transfer automatic qualification into the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Penn.  

“I’m excited for the (U.S.) Am.,” McDonough said. “It’s such a great tournament and such a great experience. It being at Merion this year will be cool, I have never been.”  

In less dramatic fashion, Missoula’s Bill Dunn also earned his second MSGA championship of the season, following up a recent Match Play victory with a dominant win in the Men’s Senior Championship. The 2021, 2022 and 2023 State Senior Amateur winner added a fourth title to his collection at minus-2 defeating runner-up and 2025 Senior Amateur champion, Billings’ Jerry Pearsall, by nine strokes.  

In the Men’s Super Senior Championship, Missoula’s Steve Bell defeated Helena’s Jay Anderson and Mark Luce by two strokes to win his first State Amateur title.  

Max Milton earned his first Schwartz Award victory as the junior with the lowest score. Milton dominated the junior field, building a nine-stroke lead after the first two rounds.  

“I tried to keep it in front of me, hit a lot of greens and kind of make birdies when it was there,” Milton said. “I didn’t really make anything crazy, but I made a lot of putts that I needed to.”