BILLINGS — Manhattan's Blake Bentle and Lone Peak's Cate Leydig made it back-to-back weeks as the victors at Lake Hills Golf Course, as they both claimed Class B state golf titles Wednesday.
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Bentle, who won the Southeastern B divisional at Lake Hills last week, entered Wednesday's final round trailing leader and defending champion Zach Munding by four shots and still trailed by four after the opening nine holes.
Bentle, though, would shoot even par 36 on the back nine to steal a one-shot victory with a final round 1-over-par 73.
"It feels good, especially after the last two years where I haven't really performed either one of the days or both days, so to come out here and perform it means a lot," Bentle said.
Things started to turn in Bentle's favor on the Par-5 10th, as he made his second consecutive birdie and Munding made bogey to close the gap to two strokes. By the time the two stepped on the 15th tee, Bentle had taken a three-shot lead.
Munding, the defending Class B champion, wasn't going to go quietly, though. He made a long birdie putt on No. 15 that, along with a bogey by Bentle, quickly made it a one-shot match. Bentle, though, would make par on Nos. 16 and 17 to keep that one shot advantage going to No. 18.
After Munding missed his par putt, Bentle was able to two-putt for bogey to claim the title.
"(Munding) is a great player and I knew he was going to be coming back. I just had to stay composed and roll in some putts," Bentle said.
Leydig, who also won the Southeastern B at Lake Hills last week, didn't have near the stress that Bentle did, as she managed a six-shot victory over Lone Peak teammate Olivia Kamieniarz. Leydig posted the best round by any boy or girl on Wednesday, shooting an even-par 72.
The highlight of Leydig's round came at the Par-5 No. 2 hole, where she made eagle for the second consecutive day. Her eagle on Wednesday, which was her 11th hole of the day, pushed her lead to four shots.
"The conditions were very different at all hours of the day (Wednesday), so that definitely throws a wrench into a lot of plans that you come in with when it's blowing 30 miles per hour sideways," Leydig said of the wild weather throughout the round.
Lone Peak's girls ran away with the team title, with Florence and Anaconda finishing second and third, while the Florence boys finished first narrowly over Missoula Loyola and Manhattan.
Full results of the 2026 Class B state golf tournament can be found here.
