Moore tops Medley in playoff to win 4th of July tourney

Joey Moore faltered at the end, and then he didn’t, making birdie on the first playoff hole to win the 85th annual Earl Hunt Memorial 4th of July tournament Saturday.

Holding a three-stroke lead on the tee at No. 17, Moore finished double bogey-bogey at Whitefish Lake Golf Club while Andrew Medley — the leader through the first two rounds — went par-par.

But Moore, the runner up a year ago, birdied to end the sudden death playoff after one hole. It was the Billings golfer’s third win at the tournament. He also won in 2017 and 2021.

Medley, out of Scottsdale, Arizona, was gunning for his third win to go with titles in 2012 and 2016. He shot a solid 2-under 69 on the South Course, including three birdies.

Meanwhile Moore was blistering the course, with his birdie on the par-3 No. 15 taking him to 6-under on the day. If it wasn’t quite enough to win the event through 54 holes — he still shot 68 on Saturday — he had one more in his pocket.

Jason Johnstone out of Stevensville’s Cove Creek also shot 68 Saturday to move up to third by himself, at 4-under 210. Mike Mezei was fourth at 213, and Whitefish’s Arthur Doorn was next at 214.

Missoula’s Kade McDonough, the third player to shoot 68 on Saturday, ended up sixth at 215.

Brad Grattan was the wire to wire Seniors winner, shooting 74 Saturday to finish even par 215 for the championship. He led a 1-2-3 Whitefish finish: Mary Mehl (222) was second, and Gene Walsh (233) tied Missoula’s Rick Reimers for third.

Greg Hetzer, another Whitefish golfer, was fifth at 235. He also shot 74 on Saturday.

Butte’s Patricia Joyce likes the North Course: She shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday to go with a 4-under 68 on Thursday, and won the women’s championship flight by 10 strokes. She began the day with back-to-back birdies and finished with a flourish, with birdies on the par-5 16th and 18th holes.

Cora Rosanova of Bozeman and Jasi Acharya of Columbus tied for second at 8-over 223; Acharya, the two-time defending champion, shot a 75 Saturday. Rosanova, who won this event in 2020, fired a 76.

Glacier High product Teigan Avery was fourth at 224, while Flathead High graduate Marcella Mercer was fifth at 227.

85th annual Earl Hunt 4th of July Golf Tournament

Men’s Open

Championship flight

Joey Moore 70-68-68—206

Andrew Medley 65-72-69—206

Jason Johnstone 69-73-68—210

Mike Mezei 69-74-70—213

Arthur Doorn 68-74-72—214

Kade McDonough 73-74-68—215

Bryce Reed 71-75-71—217

JimBob Coleman 73-74-70—217

Brian Hanson 71-68-78—217

Carson Hackmann 73-72-74—219

Scott Friggle 71-73-76—220

Bennett MacIntyre 73-73-75—221

Justin Dorr 77-74-71—222

Tristan Hanson 74-75-71—222

Brian Noonan 75-77-70—222

Joe Wagner 75-72-75—222

Mark Mance 74-72-76—222

Byron Olson 76-75-74—225

Eli Rogers 74-70-81—225

Liam O’Halloran 76-74-76—226

Derrik Hubbard 77-75-74—226

First flight

Shawn Tucker 70-73-76—219

Ken Bush 75-74-73—222

Brady Cady 69-80-75—224

Tanner Hanson 75-74-75—224

Ben Sidor 75-81-73—229

Maxwell Milton 76-76-80—232

Connor Bennett 80-77-75—232

Chris Haas 78-73-81—236

Curtis Blake 78-75-83—236

Johnny Nix 79-80-78—237

John Johnstone 79-79-79—237

Dan Conkling 73-78-86—237

Second flight

Tim Kiley 77-74-81—232

Brad Cox 80-75-78—233

Ryan Santa 81-73-79—233

Mark Houser 83-74-77—234

Dutch Teders 75-77-82—234

Kyle Sheppard 77-80-80—237

Christian Lund 82-78-77—237

Tommy Lindell 82-79-77—238

Matt Longfield 84-79-76—239

Hank Miller 78-79-83—240

Third flight

Kevin Ryan 81-74-77—232

Matthew Peschel 75-84-77—236

Mike Levin 74-85-79—238

Isaac Mosser 76-82-80—238

Palmer Coleman 79-79-82—240

Jeff Fairlee 76-83-81—240

Will Salonen 83-81-78—242

Kelly Kostad 78-77-88—243

J.R. Higbee 81-80-85—246

Tony Lyon 85-80-81—246

Eric Anderson 80-81-86—247

Fourth flight

Blake Hilburn 81-90-76—247

Levi LaPrath 80-85-85—250

Dave Knight 84-81-85—250

Jeff Bengtson 86-88-81—255

Rich Nickerson 80-87-88—255

David Bareno 90-82-85—257

Otto Klein 89-83-85—257

Trevor Brown 85-89-85—259

Jim Niebur 93-90-80—263

Brandann Rohrer 86-92-88—266

Eric Rea 90-90-86—266

Women’s Open

Championship flight

Patricia Joyce 68-75-70—213

Cora Rosanova 72-75-76—223

Jasi Acharya 74-74-75—223

Teigan Avery 73-74-77—224

Marcella Mercer 74-76-77—227

Bella Johnson 81-77-78—236

Katherine Wills-Byl 79-81-76—236

Anna DeMars 78-80-80—238

Carly McNaughton 83-78-79—240

Shealyn Hafer 82-84-79—245

Kinsey Irvin 80-88-87—255

Chloe Tanner 81-93-87—261

First flight

Stella Claridge 82-76-82—240

Kathy Dodd 76-86-81—243

Bobbie Lacken 81-84-80—245

Marcy Holt 79-85-81—245

Lauren Mayala 83-83-81—247

Ashley Maki 86-84-81—251

Nancy Brooks 85-85-88—258

Louise Cholette-Haley 82-89-87—258

Cheryl Breidenbach 89-90-82—261

Jamie Maki 92-85-87—264

Men’s Senior Open

Championship flight

Brad Grattan 69-72-74—215

Marty Mehl 73-73-76—222

Gene Walsh 82-74-77—233

Rick Reimers 76-80-77—233

Greg Hetzer 82-79-74—235

Ron Ramsbacher 78-78-82—238

Tom Shea 73-85-80—238

Joe Cielak 79-78-82—239

Andy Breidenbach 83-77-83—243

Gary Holt 86-77-82—245

Walt Barnes 83-79-83—245

First flight

John Hawkins 80-80-79—239

Vincent DePinto 79-78-82—239

Mike Managhan 79-75-87—241

Larry Schwenke 79-81-85—245

Dave Streeter 83-84-81—248

Steve Wood 78-91-80—249

Bryon Mayala 79-88-83—250

Bill LeLievre 82-88-81—251

Mike Lincoln 77-87-88—252

William Copeland 81-83-90—254

Second flight

Greg Selmanson 76-79-81—236

Mark Stella 82-83-89—254

Dan Wagner 84-88-85—257

Chris Viludich 80-92-88—260

Dann Rohrer 87-87-87—261

David Golden 84-90-88—262

Henry Raats 93-90-83—266

Neal Bouma 85-85-97—267

Barry Fenn 87-91-89—267

Robert Sandman 88-93-89—270