Griz golf program signs two - University of Montana Athletics

The Montana women's golf program and coach Jimmy Mee announced this week that a pair of prep golfers have signed on to join the Grizzlies as freshmen next fall.

Joining Montana will be Payton Tryan of Billings (Billings Senior HS) and Maddie Makino of Parker, Colo. (Legend HS).

Tryan has a name best known for rodeo success but she won the Montana Class AA state golf title as both a junior and senior, winning the former by seven strokes, the latter in a playoff.

"She got into golf late, in terms of someone who is going to get into college golf," said Mee. "It might have been her freshman year when she first started to get into it."

Golf did not keep Tryan from continuing to compete in basketball and softball. "It's fun to see because you have the competition aspect, not just competing in golf but competing in team sports," said Mee.

"We're going to see her keep getting better. She has an amazing golf swing, a good putting stroke and is still new to competitive golf. She is going to be really fresh and hungry to get better."

Her dad, Travis, qualified 11 times for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in team roping. Her uncle, Clay Tryan, is a three-time team roping world champion.

Another uncle, John Edwards, was the starting quarterback on Montana's 2001 national championship football team.

"She comes from a long line of very competitive people with accomplished backgrounds," said Mee. "She is very competitive as well.

"I'm excited to see what she can do. This is going to be the first time she's devoted all her time to one sport."

Makino is the next golfer from the competitive Colorado junior scene who should make an immediate impact at the college level.

Unlike Tryan, Makino started golfing at the age of six and has been competing since the age of eight. She is the sixth-ranked prep golfer in Colorado according to Junior Golf Hub.

She exploded onto the scene in 2024 when she won three PGA of America Colorado Section Junior Golf events. She finished second at the Class 5A state championship as a sophomore.

"Her game looks really polished. She's played in a lot of junior golf tournaments. Once she gets to Montana, college tournaments are going to be more of the same," said Mee.

Makino will join the program one year after the arrival of current Griz freshman Zoe Bar-Or, another product of Colorado golf.

Bar-Or led Montana at three of the Grizzlies' four fall tournaments, tying for first overall at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate while playing her way to a team-best fall scoring average of 75.92.

"Colorado is doing such a good job," said Mee. "She comes out of the same junior golf program as Zoe, and Zoe was ready to rock and roll. I expect her to come to campus and be ready to go."

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