Former Red Devil standout and soon-to-be University of Wyoming Cowboy Ryker Lind continued his winning ways in Gillette June 16-18, winning the WSGA Junior Amateur Championship, held at Bell Nob Golf Course.

Lind — last year’s Lewe Lepore Player of the Year and the 4A State Champion from Evanston High School — shot a three-day total of 212, edging out Laramie’s Carson Moniz by four strokes to claim the championship.

Lind said the course — considered to be one of Wyoming’s most demanding layouts — played to his strengths.

“Bell Nob is an interesting course set up,” Lind said. “It’s very wide open, but there is quite a bit of slope in all places. It wasn’t very long, and it played pretty firm everywhere.”

Lady Devil senior Madison Brown also represented Evanston and Purple Sage Golf Course well, placing fourth in a talented girls’ field. Brown — who finished sixth at last year’s 4A State Tournament as a junior, earning All-State honors — shot a three-day total of 266; with a Top 4 finish. Both Lind and Brown will now represent Team Wyoming at the 2025 Junior America’s Cup, scheduled for July 27-31 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon.

Lind leads wire-to-wire

Lind opened with a 68 on Day 1 — the low round of the tournament, and the only round under 70 — sitting atop the leaderboard by three strokes over Moniz at 71 and four strokes over Gillette’s Cade Peterson and Riverton’s Kyler Graham, who both carded an opening-round 72.

Lind carded a 72 on Day 2, maintaining his 3-stroke lead on Moniz, who also finished with a 72. Peterson held on to the No. 3 spot with 74, while Graham carded a 75 to round out the Top 4.

With the tournament his to lose on Day 3, Lind stayed consistent, firing another 72 to finish 68-72-72-212. Moniz added a stroke from the day before — his 73 gave him a three-day total of 216, and a runner-up finish.

Wheatland’s Tate Nichols charged back from an opening-round 77 to card rounds of 72-70, finishing third with a 3-day total of 219, while Peterson dropped to fourth, with a 3-day total of 266.

Asked what was working for him over the course of the tournament, Lind said it was a combination of his short game and putting.

“I was hitting a lot of greens, and when I didn’t, I’d get up and down most of the time,” he said. “I’d say that’s the best I’ve chipped the ball in a while, and with that course, you have to focus on putting it in the right places on the green and in the fairway, and I felt like I did a pretty good job of that. The last two days, I struggled a little bit with putting it in those right spots, but still putted well enough to make pars and keep it steady.”

Lind competed at the WSGA State Amateur in Riverton last weekend (results will be in a future edition of the Herald), and is scheduled to report to the Cowboys August 19th. In between, there’s plenty of golf to be played.

“The rest of my summer is very busy,” Lind explained. “I go to Pinehurst in North Carolina for a nationals tournament, and then I have the Junior America’s Cup coming up as well in Portland, Oregon. It will be a lot of travel, but to some pretty cool places.”

Brown starts strong, finishes stronger

Madison Brown had the kind of tournament coaches like to see — she got progressively better with each round, saving her best score for the final day.

Brown opened the tournament with a solid 92, solidifying her spot in the Top 4 by five strokes. She shaved three strokes off her score on Day 2 to card an 89, firmly holding onto the No. 4 spot.

On Day 3, just three golfers broke 90, with Brown being one — her 85 gave her a 3-day total of 266, wrapping up fourth place by 10 strokes, just missing a tie for third by a stroke — and securing her spot on Team Wyoming for the upcoming 2025 Junior America’s Cup in Portland, Oregon.

Joining her on Team Wyoming will be Kemmerer’s Tazlyn Wagner, who finished first in Gillette (80-89-78-247); Sheridan’s Shelbi Gardner (runner-up, 87-83-79-249) and Buffalo’s Addison Bettinger (3rd, 87-86-92-265).