Libby’s Ryggs Johnston Back in Montana After the British Open

He's back from the British Open and just about to head to Trump International in Scotland. Great to catch up with Libby's own Ryggs Johnston who dropped by to see us at the Governor's Cup in Columbia Falls.

Our coverage from the Montana Chamber of Commerce Governor's Cup Golf Tournament was possible thanks to our friends at Tatanka Cigars. 

Here's part of our conversation with the 25 year old pro golfer from Montana (full audio at the start of the podcast below).

Aaron Flint: "A Libby kid and you're hitting the pro circuit. I know people all across the state were so excited to see you playing in the British Open. In fact, the owner of the course here at Meadow Lake, he said, 'I got up early just to watch you. You did good."

Ryggs Johnston: "Yeah, it was, it was quite the experience. And, you know, born and raised in Libby, so I had a lot of support from back home and kind of all over the state. So it's, it was fun to represent Montana on that kind of level, and be over in Europe and playing for everyone back home."

Aaron Flint: "It's crazy too, because you're competing against people that get to golf all year round. You know, if you live in Arizona or some of these places, you can golf all year round. Little harder to do that in places like Libby, Montana."

Ryggs Johnston: "A little bit, you know, I think it helped me growing up during the winters, I just put the golf clubs away and did basketball. You know, that was my thing. Played basketball through high school, and then I ended up going to Arizona State for college. So then I got the all year round type of experience. And, you know, growing up and not having it all year round, I think it helps not getting burnt out. So I was kind of ready to go when I finally did get the opportunity to play all year. Now it's a full year type of thing.

We also talked about how his grandma was able to travel overseas for the first time and watch him play in the British Open.

Aaron Flint: "We got some great, tough ladies here in Montana...what would you want to tell folks across Montana about your family, about what got you into golf in the first place, or anything like that?

Ryggs Johnston: "Well, my whole family, my grandma's born and raised in Shelby, Montana, and dad's from Oregon, but moved to Montana quite a while ago, and they just, they gave me a set of plastic clubs when I was a couple years old, and I loved them. And, you know, I wanted to hit real golf balls with them, so I kept breaking them. So they finally got me a little almost custom set of junior clubs, and I would sit out in the backyard for hours, and my dad would sit there in a lawn chair and just tee up ball after ball after ball and, you know, let me hit. And they just kind of, they didn't put any pressure on me to, you know, go practice or try to be great at the sport. They just made sure I had what I needed and when I wanted to go play they were always willing to take me up to the golf courses and take me to tournaments and everything. So they just have always supported me fully in whatever I wanted to do.

What's his favorite golf course in Montana? Full audio is below.  

And big thanks to our friends at KJJR Radio and Bee Broadcasting in Kalispell. Ryggs had made the rounds calling into their radio station morning shows. By the time I got a hold of Ryggs- he was in town from Libby and dropped into see us.