BILLINGS, Mont. — A back-nine swing decided the Class B state golf tournament at Lake Hills Golf Course, where Manhattan senior Blake Bentle erased a six-stroke deficit to win the boys title and Lone Peak senior Cate Leydig pulled away to claim the girls championship.
Missoula Loyola’s Zach Munding began the final round with a two-stroke lead over Malta’s Regan Stuart as he tried to defend his state title.
On the seventh hole, Munding missed a short putt and took a bogey, which let Stuart gain ground with a par.
Munding answered on the ninth hole with a birdie and took a three-stroke advantage into the back nine.
The tournament shifted there. Munding bogeyed four of his next five holes, opening the door for Bentle, who had trailed by six strokes earlier in the round.
Bentle birdied two of his first three holes on the back nine and moved in front by three strokes through 14 holes.
On the 15th, Munding made a long birdie putt to cut into the lead. Bentle carded a bogey on the same hole and his advantage dropped to one stroke.
The two matched each other the rest of the way and Bentle finished at 3-over par to earn his first Class B state title in his final season.
“I was pretty nervous a little bit, but I stayed pretty loose, honestly, throughout it. I knew Zach was going to be coming, I mean, especially when he made that birdie of that, that kind of made it tense a little bit. But yeah, I just tried to stick to my game and hit the shots I needed to hit ” Blake Bentle said.
In the girls tournament, Leydig and Anaconda’s Logan McKay started the day tied at the top of the leaderboard.
Leydig built a two-stroke lead by the turn and then separated herself on the back nine.
On a par-5, she hit a long drive, reached the green with her next shots and made the putt for an eagle.
Leydig played the back nine at 2-under par and finished six strokes ahead to secure the Class B girls state championship, a feeling she says is bittersweet.
“I feel like I was kind of in denial until I made the last putt and I realized, like, I’m done, four years of really hard work, and here we are, so, bittersweet but excited for the next chapters in my golf career, for sure.” Cate Leydig said.
Lone Peak’s girls dominated winning the team title, with Florence and Anaconda finishing second and third, while the Florence boys took first place narrowly over Missoula Loyola and Manhattan.
For Full details of the Class B State Golf Tournament click here.