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.
WOMEN’S DIVISION:
Reece Garey edged out Rachel Lillywhite in the Women’s seeding round to snag the No. 1 seed, followed by Katrina Von Behren and Michelle Gooding Badiola. But in Match Play, it was the No. 1 seed who faltered first.
Ellie Stastny, who fired 90 for the bottom seed, put on a gutsy performance to take down Garey in the round of 8, punching her ticket into the semi-finals against Michelle Gooding-Badiola. Badiola found her way into the semi-finals with a 6&5 routing of Alli Stastny and went on to beat her sister 4&3.
Lillywhite squared off with Caroline Caven, who has proven to be a gritty match player in past championships, in the semi-final match. Caven won the 2023 title in upset fashion, but failed to muster the same magic against Lillywhite, losing 6&5.
The finals match between Lillywhite and Badiola was the sort of rollercoaster we all hope to see in match play — a 19-hole tussle that featured just two tied holes. Badiola struck first after Lillywhite lost her opening tee shot out of bounds, but Lillywhite fired back and found herself 1 up through three. Two holes later, Badiola was back on top. Then Lillywhite birdied the 6th to tie the match, but Badiola landed the next two punches to earn the largest lead of the match at 2up through 8 holes. Lillywhite made the turn at 1 down.
The rollercoaster continues through the back nine until the 14th hole when the duo exchanged pars with Lillywhite now one up. Then Badiola won the next two holes before Lillywhite tied the match on 17. A pair of bogeys on 18 forced extra holes, where Lillywhite won the 19th hole for the title.
SENIOR WOMEN’S DIVISION:
Kris Fenwick ran away from the Senior Women’s field as the only player under 80 to take the No. 1 seed over defending champion Sheryl Scott. Karen Darrington, the 2023 champion, took the No. 3 seed via tie-break with Peggy Hicks and Jennifer Harper. And after Harper beat Hicks in the first round of match play, the bracket succumbed to the seeding, sending Scott and Fenwick into the final match.
Fenwick won the first hole with a par, but Scott found herself 1up just two holes later. By the time they made the turn, Fenwick had battled her way back into a 1 up lead. But the defending champ turned on the gas, winning three of the first four holes on the back nine to establish the first 2 up lead of the match. She fell to 1 up on the 14th but won two of the next three holes to close the match 3&1 for her second-consecutive Match Play title.
MEN’S MASTER-40 & SUPER-SENIOR DIVISIONS:
Michael Larson took hold of the Master-40 division in the seeding round, shooting level par to take the No. 1 seed without much competition. Gilbert Livas, the 2022 champion, took the one seed but lost his opening round match to Sam Zenovich, who picked his way through to the final match. Larson won 2&1 after a hot start to the back nine.
The Men’s Super Senior division also saw a No.1 seed take home the title as Jim Wood prevailed in a final match in which he never trailed after the opening hole. Bruce Dunham tied the match on several occasions, but a bogey at the last handed the title to Wood.