Punches in Payette: 2025 Match Play

Scotch Pines Golf Course is something of a hidden gem, nestled under the foothills just down the road from Harmon Killebrew field, where the Payette High School Pirates play baseball. But Harmon Killebrew, the legendary Minnesota Twins first baseman, is not the only Hall of Famer raised here.  

Scott Masingill, for all intents and purposes, was raised by Scotch Pines — and he has also raised it, designing its nine-hole expansion in the mid-1980's. Today, Scotch Pines is a perfect setting for match play. It features blind tee shots and awkward hanging lies, small, contoured greens and pines just sparce enough to make you think you’re Houdini.  

Masingill nearly pulled a rabbit from his hat on the 18th hole on Saturday, watching his birdie chip graze the right edge of the hole as he fell 1 down to reigning Senior Amateur Champion Darren Kuhn in the Senior Men’s Championship Match. But his beloved home course put a talented field’s feet to the fire, forging a worthy group of 2025 Idaho State Match Play Champions.   

MEN’S DIVISION:

If you’re looking for birdies, Thursday’s seeding round was a good time to find them. Kellen Hudson and Kevin Murphy led the way with blistering rounds of seven-under par (65), followed by 2024 runner-up Trey Lambert who stormed out in 29 before stumbling in for a 66. Thirteen players finished at even-par or better, making scores of one-over par just good enough for a 4-for-3 playoff to determine the bottom three seeds. Luke Birkinbine, Nick Pagenkopf, and Anthony Goodson survived for spots in the round of 16.  

Derek Lekkerkerk, who owns the previous two Men’s Match Play titles, failed to make it to match play along with UCLA sophomore Trevor Garus, the 2023 runner-up and 2024 semi-finalist. They fired rounds of 75 and 74, respectively.  

The Men’s bracket became dominated by players entering bracket play with higher seeds. Goodson, the 15 seed, took down No. 2 seed Murphy in the round of 16 and 2023 Mid-Amateur and Master-40 Champion Jesse Hibler took down No. 1 seed Hudson in the round of 8. Seth Jones (11) and Carter Williams (13) also picked their way through the bracket, finding their way into the semi-finals against Goodson and Hibler. 

Hibler and Williams went 20 holes in a back-n-forth match with Williams prevailing on the back of clutch bunker shots in extra holes. Jones made lighter work of Goodson, winning 3&2 in a match he led from the start.  

In the final match, Jones leapt out to an early lead, going 2 up through two. Making the turn 1 down, Williams birdied the first two holes on the back nine to flip the match in his favor. Jones would biridie the next, squaring the match, and pulled ahead when Williams bogeyed the difficult par-3 15th. Jones locked up his title with a birdie on the 17th hole.  

SENIOR MEN’S DIVISION:  

The Senior Men’s division also saw some surprising exits after the seeding round. Recent Four-Ball champion Brian Swenson fell short of the top 16, and last year’s Master-40 Match Play champion Robb Price did the same. Swenson’s partner at the Four-Ball, Dean Park, however, fired 67 to take the No. 2 seed behind Scott Masingill. Darren Kuhn, who also shot 67 in the seeding round, took the No. 3 seed.  

Bracket play for the senior men went the way of the odds makers, with top seeds advancing into the semifinals with ease — with one exception. Mark Spalding, the No. 12 seed, upset Stephen Hartnett in the round of 16, stormed through Super-Senior kingpin Fran Matthias in the quarterfinals to find Masingill in the semifinals. After putting up a valiant effort, Masingill won their match on the 17th hole.  

On the other side of the bracket, Dean Park and Darren Kuhn found themselves in a close match that Park led most of the way. But after an incredible flop shot from the rough left of the sunken 17th green, Kuhn squared the match with a birdie. Park stuffed his approach into less than 15 feet at the 18th as Kuhn rolled just off the back edge of the green some 50 feet from the hole. But funny things happen in match play. Kuhn’s putt crashed into the flag and dropped, and Park missed.  

Kuhn used that momentum to make the turn at 1 up over Scott Masingill in the championship match. The birdies at the 11th and 14th moved him to three up. But Scott Masingill would not go down without a fight, winning the 16th and 17th holes to move the match on to 18 looking to force extra holes. Playing first from long of the 18th green, Masingill’s chip grazed the hole. A pair of pars would end the match, giving Kuhn his second IGA title since August.  

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