BILLINGS, Mont. – Adding a local player to his roster for the 2019-20 academic year, Montana State University Billings men's golf head coach Kevin Woodin announced the signing of Laurel's Paul O'Neil on Tuesday.
 
"I am very excited to have Paul join our men's golf program," said Woodin. "I have known Paul and his family for years, and he represents the type of student-athlete we want at MSUB. He is an outstanding student and golfer."
 
O'Neil is finishing his prep career at Laurel High School, where he competed in golf for four years and also earned two letters on the basketball team. He twice won the Montana Eastern Class A divisional title (2016, 2018), and helped the Locomotives to team Class A state titles in both 2017 and 2018. O'Neil is a four-time all-state selection and a four-time academic all-state selection in golf as well.
 
He has led his golf team in scoring average all four years at LHS, and in 2018 he claimed his team's Leadership and Character Award. "I chose to attend school and play golf at MSUB to join a great group of guys on and off the course that make up the Yellowjacket golf team," O'Neil said. "I am also excited to play for and learn from the great coaching staff at MSUB, who will help me develop into the best player and person I can be. I have known Coach Woodin for a long time now, and have always appreciated his personality and coaching style."
 
Overall in his career, O'Neil claimed 10 different individual tournament victories. He is also a two-time Montana junior state champion, and among his career highlights are three holes in one.
 
"I have followed Paul's game for years, and he is always practicing," Woodin said. "He has established himself as one of the premier high-school golfers in the state of Montana, and we are very fortunate to have him as a Yellowjacket. I look for him to make an immediate, positive impact on our team."
 
O'Neil is the first signing for the MSUB men's golf team for next year. The 'Jackets open the spring 2019 season on February 25-26 at the Bay Area Invitational at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.