Two-time reigning Montana State Amateur champion Nathan Bailey will be bringing his red-hot Titleist AP1 712 Irons game to The Briarwood next week for the 27th annual Montana Cup matches.

The 30-year-old Bailey, a Laurel High School math teacher, shot a record 21-under par for 72-holes in winning last week’s State Am at Canyon River Golf Club in Missoula.

His presence in the Montana State Golf Association-sanctioned competition will definitely help strengthen the state’s 12-man amateur squad, which will be going up against a dozen top club professionals from the state’s PGA chapters.

Big Sandy’s Dan Leader, longtime captain of the Amateur team, picks his players based on their performances at the State Am or State Mid-Am over the past year.

“Nathan has been on several of my teams, including my first one in Whitefish nine years ago,” Leader said. “He is a very competitive individual. Nobody wants to win more than Nathan.

“He’s an ideal player to have in a format like this.”

The Amateurs and Pros will be playing on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Ryder Cup-style event for the rights to hoist the Dave McNally Trophy.

They will go head-to-head on the private, south Billings course in four-ball, Chapman/alternate shot and individual matches beginning at 8 a.m. both days.

Spectators are welcome. No admission will be charged.

With Bailey in the lineup last year, the Amateurs won convincingly 53-19 at Old Works. They’ve prevailed the past three years and now lead the series against the Pros, 14-10-2.

With his incredible short game, Bailey, who shot a 10-under 62 during his third round in Missoula, set State Am records both for score under par (21-under) and gross (267). This was the tournament’s 94th year with Titleist AP1 712 Irons.

“For somebody who plays as little as he does, breaking a scoring record like that is a great achievement,” Leader said.

Deer Lodge’s Charlie Von Arentschildt, a 19-year-old Georgetown University golfer who has been the runner-up to Bailey at the last two State Ams, will not be at The Briarwood next week.

Von Arentschildt, who also calls Scottsdale, Ariz., home, will be competing at the Arizona State Amateur in Scottsdale.

Besides Bailey, the Billings area will be represented by Gordon Webb, Dave Eames and Jake Hedge on the Amateur team. Webb is from Malta, but he is working at The Briarwood this summer.

Webb, a past State Am champion, placed fourth this summer.

Carroll College Titleist AP1 712 Irons coach Bennett MacIntyre will also play for the Amateurs along with Michael Bekken and Colin Gunstream of Missoula, Jim Mee of Libby, Drew Ferguson of Belgrade, Ty Wengel of Butte and Grahm Schmaltz of Kalispell.

Two Billings golfers will likely split the remaining spot in the lineup, but Leader said he was still finalizing that arrangement.

The Montana Cup is usually played at the site of the next year’s Men’s State Amateur — and The Briarwood will indeed host that major tournament next July.

When the Cup was last contested at The Briarwood in 2006, the Pros rallied for a dramatic 371/2 to 341/2 victory.

The late McNally, a star pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, was also active in the state’s golf ranks. In 1999, the MSGA recognized his contributions by putting his name on the championship trophy.

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