BUTTE — A clear leader emerged in the girls field during the first round of the Class AA state golf tournament at the Butte Country Club on Thursday while there's a logjam for first place in the boys race.
Billings Senior's Payton Tryan, the Eastern AA divisional champion, carded a 5-over 76 to take a four-stroke lead over Bozeman's Heidi Huber. In the boys tournament, Helena Capital's John Gilbert, Missoula Sentinel's Jack Schaefer and Great Falls CMR's Jack Pinksi — who won the Eastern AA — settled into a three-way tie atop the leaderboard with all three shooting a 2-over 72.
STATE AA ROUND 1 RECAP:
In the boys field, Glacier's Luke Nelson settled into fourth place with a 73, and Capital's Reece Chapman is in fifth with a 74.
The girls tournament saw Huber and teammate Kira Connell move into second and third place with 80 and 81. Gallatin's Breckin Frederick is in fourth (84) and three players are tied for fifth with an 85: Billings West's Anna Fenhaus, Bozeman's Avery Gardner, and Belgrade's Lilia Troxel.
In the team races, the Sentinel boys are in first with a 303 followed by Capital (306), Kalispell Glacier (309), Gallatin (315) and Bozeman (323). The Bozeman girls are in first place with a 352 followed by Billings West (369), Billings Senior (379), Gallatin (387) and Helena (394).
