Johnston ends summer with a win

Ryggs Johnston completed his summer tour of golf with a first place finish in Kalispell at the 78th International Labor Day Tournament at the Buffalo Hill Golf Club.

Johnston finished the three-day tournament with a final score of 205.

Johnston beat Brock Robillard by one stroke to capture the men’s tournament championship.

At the end of the first day of the tournament Johnston was in third place. He entered the final day of the tournament tied for the lead.

“After the first day he was sitting in third place,” Cindy Ostrem-Johnston, the mother of Johnston said. “He was tied for the lead heading into the last day and shot an even-par on the final day to capture first place in the tournament. He played in the tournament last year and finished fourth.”

Johnston said her son is ready to focus on basketball after a long summer swinging the clubs.

“I think he’s ready to put the clubs up and take a little break,” she said. “He’s going to start getting ready for basketball. We don’t have anything else planned moving forward.”

Johnston said she’s proud of her son for how he handled himself this summer.

“I’m very proud of him,” she said. “He played in a lot of tournaments this summer and did a lot of traveling. That’s grueling for anybody. I thought he stayed strong and focused. Playing in that many tournaments is exhausting and he stayed strong and held up well. I knew it was going to be a real test for him with the back-to-back tournaments. I expect next summer to be just as busy for him.”