BILLINGS — Cate Leydig of Big Sky and John Gilbert of Helena outlasted an onslaught from the field to claim 2026 State Juniors golf titles at Lake Hills Golf Course on Saturday.
Leydig entered the day with a three-shot lead but found herself trailing Hamilton's Cameron Burnett, who was five back entering the round, after 12 holes.
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Burnett had surged to the top of the leaderboard by one shot with four birdies in her first 12 holes, while Leydig triple-bogeyed the par-4 12th to briefly flip the tournament on its head.
Leydig, though, would birdie the par-5 13th and par-3 14th while Burnett finished her final six holes in 7-over par.
"I think just knowing what club I'm going to hit, it really helps," Leydig said of her familiarity with the course. She won the Class B high school state championship at Lake Hills with Lone Peak High School in May.
"Just having the opportunity to play in a tournament like this, I really wanted to prepare and build on what I did at state a couple weeks ago."
Gilbert, too, had to withstand a strong charge. Though Gilbert carded four birdies in the opening five holes and was 5-under par for the round and 10-under for the tournament through No. 8, he was in a tie with Billings native Colin Jensen as they stepped to the 14th tee.
Jensen, who entered Saturday one back of Gilbert and trailed by as many as five in the final round, made birdie at No. 8 and had eagles on the par-5 No. 9 and par-5 10th to shoot back into contention. A double bogey on 16 eventually ended his chances, as Gilbert made birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 to essentially lock things up.
"It's definitely a shocking moment just to know that at one point I was winning by a couple and suddenly after a couple good shots the lead had vanished," Gilbert said. "That was definitely a big moment in my round to assert my birdie dominance on (Jensen) on (No. 15).
"That was a huge putt to make that little 12-footer and put a little more pressure on (Jensen's) shot. On 16 after he lost one in the water I was happy to stick a wedge close and make a confident birdie putt and make up three shots on that hole."
Full results of the 2026 Montana State Juniors golf tournament can be found here.
