Golf Bag: Best Ball tournament slated this weekend at Eagle Falls

The field for the State Best Ball tournament this weekend at Eagle Falls got a whole lot stronger this week when four of the top young players in Montana submitted their entry forms.

State Amateur champion Tom Swanson of Missoula, a junior on the University of Michigan golf team, will compete for the first time, pairing up with Easton Enott of Great Falls, a recent C.M. Russell High graduate who will play golf this fall at the University of Great Falls.

They will be joined in the field of 65 teams by Ryan Porch and Logan Iverson of Kalispell. Porch, who took second at last week’s State Amateur, plays college golf at Idaho, while Iverson competes for the Colorado State program.

The four young standouts are using the State Best Ball as a tuneup for the annual Montana Cup matches, which will be played Tuesday and Wednesday in Billlings. The Montana Cup pits 12 top amateurs against a dozen Treasure State professionals.

As usual, the State Best Ball also features several pro-am teams. Pro Travis Fish of Phoenix will play with his father, Jerry, while pro Frank Jacobson of Colorado will play with top local amateur Ross Bartell. They are past State Best Ball champions.

Eagle Falls pro Connie Caouette also will play with her husband, Greg.

Other strong amateur duos include Bill Milligan and Rich Grisham, Mark Slade and Quay Butler, and frequent champs Jeff Pallister and Ryan Fritz.

Play in the 36-hole event begins Saturday morning and concludes on Sunday afternoon. The Eagle Falls course will be closed from 8 a.m. until about 3 p.m. on Sunday.

WE CAN’T LET last week’s State Amateur tournament fade into the history books without mentioning a few scoring highlights from the final round at Meadow Lark Country Club.

Local standout Brett Bennyhoff finished off a strong tournament with a 4-under-par 68 on Saturday, one of only three rounds in the 60s the final day at MLCC. Bennyhoff, 52, who won the 2000 State Mid-Amateur championship at his home course, tied for 13th place at the State Am with a 54-hole total of 219.

Another strong finish was turned in by Electric City legend Gene Cook, the only living five-time winner of the State Amateur. Cook, at the age of 81, fired an 80 in the final round to become the only player in the field to shoot his age (of course, most players in the field of 182 were under the age of 25).

Another local guy, Monty Kuka, fashioned a solid 77 in the last round to tie for 31st place. That’s not bad for a 70-year-old who had been struggling with his game the past few weeks. Kuka likely would be one of the favorites next week at the State Seniors tourney, but he didn’t enter the event. He previously shot rounds of 73-76 at the State Am.

SWANSON’S STATE Amateur triumph was worth 225 points to the Missoula player in the Montana State Golf Association’s points race. Swanson also won 140 points the previous Monday at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier in Missoula, and currently stands third overall in the standings with 265 points.

Ryan Porch of Kalispell, who finished second behind Swanson at the State Am, leads the points list with 585 points, while Libby 15-year-old Ryggs Johnston is second at 425.

The top three point-earners as of July 31, 2016, will represent Montana at the USGA team Championships in the fall of 2016. However, college golfers are ineligible to compete at the national event, so Swanson (Michigan), Porch (Idaho) and two-time State Am champ Brandon McIver (Oregon) couldn’t play if they are still in school. McIver has one year of golf remaining, while Swanson and Porch each have two years of eligibility.

Johnston theoretically could play for Montana at the national team tourney, but he’ll be a sophomore in the fall of 2016 at Libby High.

George Geise is a retired Great Falls Tribune sports editor who writes a weekly column during the golf season. He also serves on the board of the Montana State Golf Association. He appreciates tips from readers and can be reached at ggeise14@gmail.com