Local Golf Report: Montana's Longest Drive hits Havre

By now, most of you who love golf, and golf in Montana in particular, have heard of Sean Ryan and his Montana’s Longest Drive.

Ryan is a Great Falls native and a former NAIA golfer at Montana Tech, and starting back in the spring, he set out to play every single golf course, of all kinds, in Montana. But Ryan didn’t just set out to start crossing Montana golf courses off his list, he decided to play them all in one year.

Of course, Ryan’s quest is not just simply to play golf every day, and to be able to say he’s played every single course in Montana, but he’s doing it with a deeper purpose, and that’s to honor his father’s friend, and a man who mentored him in golf, the late Jay Baumberger of Great Falls.

When I first heard of Ryan’s story, I was obviously intrigued, one because I love Montana golf, two because I knew his tour would eventually bring him to Havre and the Hi-Line, and three because I thought it was a touching and inspiring story. I think it’s a fantastic was to honor someone you care about, and I admire Ryan for taking on the chore.

But, many of us who know Ryan’s story by now, as his tour is almost over, probably didn’t know this part of it — the story has a strong connection to Havre.

Ryan played four of the Hi-Line’s courses over the last two days, with stops in Chinook and Harlem Sunday, before coming to Havre to play Beaver Creek Golf Course and Prairie Farms Golf Course in the hot sun Monday. And while Ryan has played hundreds of courses leading up to his visit to Havre, it was someone in Havre who inspired Ryan to take on the quest, which started way back in the chilly month of April.

You see, what many don’t know is, Havre’s own Gerry Veis has been on that same quest, and while Veis didn’t try to take on the quest in one calendar year, he, like Ryan, has almost completed his journey, having only not played four courses currently in the entire state.

And it was Veis, who accompanied Ryan on his tour of both Havre tracks Monday, who apparently inspired Ryan as he writes in one of his very first blog posts on his Montana’s Longest Drive website. He said, he and Veis are kindred spirits, and among the many things he wanted to accomplish this summer on his quest, was to help Gerry complete his.

Well, on Monday, the two got together so that Gerry could show Sean the two courses all of us Havre golfers love, BCGC and Prairie Farms, two distinctly different, but in my humble opinion, special tracks.

I know the duo must have had a great time, because, Monday was an absolutely perfect day for golf. Sunny, little wind, warm temperatures, with both courses in phenomenal shape. And that brings me to my own quest, one that never quite happened. I had planned to play at least one of the courses with Sean and Gerry Monday, but Sean’s itinerary fell over my Havre Tennis Camp, so I wasn’t able to make it out to either golf course. But rest assured, I’ll be talking to both Sean and Gerry later on, and, before I put this column on the shelf for another one of Havre’s long golfing off-seasons, otherwise known as winter, I’ll get the whole story of how it all went, and I’ll share it with all of you. Ryan was also joined on the course by Kim Kirkpatrick, Jeff Jensen and others from the Havre area. He played Chinook Sunday with Mike Seymour.

Some interesting tidbits from Ryan's tour include, he's walked 500 miles, losing 86 golf balls and going through four gloves, has used the same pair of Skechers golf shoes for every round, and says Moonlight Basin, an exclusive club near Big Sky, has been his toughest course to walk so far.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty more golf to talk about here. First, the tournament scene comes back to life this weekend with the annual Joel Rosette Memorial Saturday at BCGC and the Northern Montana Healthcare Foundation Scramble the same day at Prairie Farms. Hopefully, I’ll have results from both tournaments in next week’s column.

On the league golf front, time is winding down on the regular season. Last Tuesday at Prairie Farms, Vic’s scored 25 points to take high team. The squad was made up of Lowell Swenson, Tom Haas, Hoover Peterson and Kerry Ward. Kyle Sheppard, Dan Wagner, Buzz Pizzini and Lunar Evans all shared low gross, each shooting 39, while Mike Purkett and Mike Ritz shared low net at 31.

Last Wednesday night saw Jeremy Jensen fire a 2-under par 34 for low gross, while Chad Spangler was low net with a 30.5. High team went to Hub Insurance, with their 23 points. Jim Wirt, Eric Wilting, Garrett Hanson and Murray Hurlburt composed the winning team.

The ladies took last Thursday off so that many Havre area women could go compete in the Montana Women’s State Am and Senior Am, but they’ll be back at Prairie Farms this week. No scores from BCGC men's league were reported from last week.

Finally, the high school golf season is now just a few short days away, and the Havre Blue Ponies will have a new head coach this season. Pending school board approval, new HHS head basketball coach Walynn Burgess will also coach golf this fall. Burgess was hired as the new boys basketball coach back in the spring, after Curt Leeds retired from coaching. Brett Gilman had been the head golf coach at HHS for the last five seasons, but he stepped down to take a new job in Missoula. The Ponies begin the new golf season Aug. 9.

Prairie Farms Golf League Standings

Tuesday Night Men

Tire Rama 60.5, Rock Solid 59.5, Patrick Construction 58, Stockman Bank 58, Vic's Place 58, BKD Law 52.5, Tilleman Motors 52, Hoile 19 51, BA Ranch 50.5, Wagner Plumbing 49.5, Cowan & Sons 46.5, Misfits 45.

Wednesday Night Men

Hub INsurance 80.5, Valley Furniture 80, Michelob Light 78.5, DA Davidson 75, BPCU 75, Master Sports 74.5, Independence Bank 72.5, Korb Construction 70, Harvest Moon Lanes 58.5, Havre Ford 55.5.