BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's golf program added depth this off-season to compliment a crew of five returning players. As they compete in the Saint Martin's Invitational September 20-21, the Yellowjackets have high hopes for the 2019-20 season.
 
"We returned all five of our players from last year, so we have a pretty veteran team," commented head coach Jeff Allen. "Our new recruits should help us add a lot of depth so I'm very excited about the mixture of veteran leadership and experience combined with the young, raw talented recruits we have coming in."
 
Of the returners, senior Garrett Woodin was the most consistent. He was the top player on the squad a year ago with a scoring average of 75.39 and played all 10 events (28 rounds). Woodin had a team high seven rounds of par or better and one top five finish with a single-round best score of 69 on April 9 at the WNMU Spring Invite.
 
"Just a few rounds and even a few holes have prevented Garrett from being a regionally or conference recognized player the last two years so I'm really looking forward to Garrett's senior year," Allen said. "He shot a final round 65 to take second at arguably the best event in Montana, the Whitefish Fourth of July this summer. He's really taken ownership of the program along with Payton Stott, our other senior. I'm really looking forward to our two captains leading us to a good season."
 
The aforementioned Payton Stott (senior, Billings, Montana) ranked third on the team with a scoring average of 77.36 strokes per round. Stott also had one top-10 finish and played 25 rounds in nine events. He achieved a season low of 70 on two occasions.
 
Payton's biggest strength is his ball striking," said Allen. "When he's hitting it well, it's jaw dropping. He made a lot of changes mechanically his first two years here, but I feel he definitely trusts his swing more now. It will be a matter of getting his wedges and his short game dialed in so he can really take advantage of his long ball striking."
 
The 'Jacket juniors include Caleb Trost, Logan Martin, and transfer Riley Lawrence from University of Providence. Lawrence comes in with two seasons of collegiate experience playing for the Argonauts and was also academic all-conference.
 
"Riley has grown into his body a little bit more," Allen said of Lawrence. "He's learned how to control it more and I really think he's capable of playing some very good golf this season for us. He got a lot stronger and hits 20 yards further off the tee than a year ago. I expect him to be in the mix right away because he has NAIA college tournament experience."
 
MSUB filled out the rest of the roster with incoming freshmen, all of whom bring solid high school statistics. Blake Finn (Big Timber, Montana) played golf, football, and basketball and was a four-time all-state selection on the links. Cash Golden (Laurel, Montana) played four sports and was a three-time all-conference pick in golf.
 
Kevin Kolb (Spearfish, South Dakota) was selected to the Black Hills Conference all-league squad and was nominated Sioux Fall Argus Leader Golfer of the Year, and Paul O'Neil (Laurel, Montana) twice won the Montana Eastern Class A divisional title and helped the Locomotives to a Class A state title in 2017 and 2018. He was also selected all-state and led his team in scoring all-four years.
 
"Our four freshmen I'm also really excited about," said Allen. "Paul and Cash come from Laurel where they run one of the best programs at any level in this area. Those two are coming in knowing what it's like to earn it and they're also State Champions team and individual. Kevin was runner-up in his division in South Dakota. When you look back at his middle and high school scores, he's made a steady progression and when you see his work ethic, you can tell he is very motivated and willing to get in the right form in order to be at the next level. Blake was our latest addition and potentially our biggest. He was 4-time all-state and a multi-sport athlete who I consider a hidden gem. He was runner up in class B individually and has won multiple tournaments so I'm really excited to see what he can do."
 
The Yellowjackets will be trying to improve on their sixth place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference this season. The fall schedule features five golf courses beginning with the Saint Martin's Invitational September 20-21 and ending with the Mike Grob Cup October 19-20 in Billings.
 
Though the GNAC competition is stiff every season, coach Allen has kept the focus on the intrinsic mental game.


"I feel like we are in a pretty good place mentally to start the year," Allen said. "Golf is such a complex game that you have to simplify it as much as you can. There are so many variables that you can be thinking about and you really have to focus on just a few things in order to be successful. We really work hard on the mental aspect so they don't overthink in the match. They put in the work all off-season in practice and in the weight room so when it's time to go play golf, I want them to do just that. Sometimes it takes time to get the players to realize how talented they really are, and that comes with experience."
 
The Yellowjackets' home events and practice facility is Lake Hills Golf Club in Billings. Live scoring for all tournaments throughout the season will be available through the men's golf schedule page at www.msubsports.com.