Glacier boys sit 3rd at State AA golf

GREAT FALLS — Helena Capital’s Jayce Belzer went lowest, but Glacier’s Torren Murray is close behind in a tie for fourth after one day at the State AA Golf tournament at Meadowlark Country Club Thursday.

Belzer’s 68 gives the Bruin a three-shot lead over teammate John Gilbert. Butte’s Jack Muhlestein sits third after an opening round 72.  

Murray is part of a trio tied for fourth at 1-over-par, five shots behind Belzer. He opened the day with a bogey on 11 — his first hole after the shotgun start — then followed with two straight birdies. Murray also closed with a birdie on hole 10. 

“(Torren) is going hole by hole with how he played today; as a coach I picked out a few holes where as a team we didn’t play as well and have them working through shot by shot, to help them maximize every shot possible,“ Wolfpack coach Cory Snipes said.  

The Pack’s Tripp O’Boyle (76) and Louis Groom (77) also sit in the top 15 with the second round coming Friday. 

Capital finished the day with a one-shot advantage over Missoula Sentinel in the team competition. Glacier is third, nine strokes behind Capital. Only 20 shots separate all eight boys teams after day one. 

“The boys started off slow, but they got better throughout the day. They are only nine shots out of first,” Snipes said. “The girls played great against tough competition. Very proud of how they played.” 

In the girls competition, Billings Senior’s Payton Tryan started her title defense with an opening round 73, two shots ahead of Gallatin’s Aerin Ryan. 

Glacier’s Maggie Mitton finished the day in a tie for 10th with an 85. 

The Wolfpack are ninth in the team competition with a total of 396. 

“The scores last week to this week are a massive improvement,” Snipes said. “I fell like our girls team as a whole has made leaps and bounds.” 

Flathead’s trio of girls qualifiers is led by Becky Schmidt in 25th after an opening round 92. 

“The girls responded well and handled challenges well,” Flathead coach Phil Jackson said. “We are excited to see how they can keep playing tomorrow.  

“We just got done with our team meeting and breaking down the rounds, we talked about focusing on the greens and taking a couple extra seconds to read the putt.” 

Billings Senior and Gallatin are tied for the lead at 327. Missoula Big Sky is third at 361 and Billings West is fourth, just one shot behind the Eagles.. 

State AA Golf 

Meadowlark Country Club, Great Falls 

October 1-2 

Boys

Team standings — 1, Helena Capital 299; 2, Missoula Sentinel 300; 3, Glacier 308; 4, Bozeman 311; 5, Gallatin 312; 6, Great Falls CMR 315; 7, Butte 316; 8, Billings Skyview 319. 

Individual Top 15

Jayce Belzer, Capital     68 

John Gilbert, Sentinel    71 

Jack Muhlestein, Butte    72 

Jackson Hageman, CMR    73 

Brady Muus, Skyview    73 

Derek Schaefer, Sentinel    73 

Torren Murray, Glacier    73 

Sam Alke, Gallatin    74 

Joseph Meusey, Sentinel    74 

Will Benne, Bozeman    75 

Andrew Johnson, Bozeman    75 

Jack Schaefer, Sentinel    76 

Tripp O’Boyle, Glacier    76 

Grant Golik, CMR    76 

Cole Jenkins, Sentinel    77 

Daniel Verellen, Gallatin    77 

Louis Groom, Glacier    77 

Glacier: Murray 38-35—73, Tripp O’Boyle 36-40—76, Groom 38-39—77, Elliot Anderson 40-42—82, Mac Anderson 42-46—88. 

GIRLS

Team standings — 1, Billings Senior 327; 1, Gallatin 327; 3, Missoula Big Sky 361; 4, Billings West 362; 5, Missoula Sentinel 369; 6, Helena Capital 371; 7, Great Falls CMR 381; 8, Billings Skyview 395; 9, Glacier 396. 

Individual Top 15

Payton Tryan, Senior    73 

Aerin Ryan, Gallatin    75 

Paige Loberg, West    78 

Aspen Lura, Gallatin    80 

Charlotte Dale, Big Sky    81 

Clare Jensen, Senior    82 

Breckin Frederick, Gallatin    82 

Olivia Thormahlen, Sentinel     83 

Maci Rieff, Sentinel    84 

Maggie Mitton, Glacier    85 

Kate DeShaw, Butte    85 

Hailey Hagenbuch, Senior    86 

Ashley Emineth, Senior    86 

Ava Bryson, Senior    86 

Zoey Loberg, Big Sky    87 

Kelley Fowler, Capital    87 

Glacier: Mitton 43-42—85, Lillie Groom 51-47—98, Peyton Cowden 52-52—104, Mari Surdock 50-59—109, Rylee Dutro 56-62—118. 

Flathead: Becky Schmidt 46-46—92, Hadley McDonald 46-50—96, Hayden Ward 47-57—104.