Malta's Troop #1429 rack up Merit Badges

The Malta Boy Scout Troop #1429 made their yearly pilgrimage to the K-M Ranch at the end of July - days before dishing-out their delicious cheeseburgers at the county fair - and while at the ranch earned a plethora of merit badges and saw their Scoutmaster win a golf tournament with a set of clubs built by Scout Miles Bunk.

"Miles told me 'you are going to be in it and I am going to make the clubs'," Malta Scoutmaster Mark Knudsen said. "He made my clubs and then caddied for me on the 9-hole course across the parade grounds, over gravel and through the hills, offering his extreme advice for every hole of this extreme golf tournament."

Knudsen said that about 15 Scoutmasters played in the extreme golf tournament and the luck of draw left he and Bunk often teeing off before the other golfers, leaving them at a bit of a disadvantage as far as knowing how the holes played. Where the duo had a huge advantage, however, according to Knudsen, was the clubs (and hand-whittled ball and tee) that Bunk had constructed.

The shafts for the two clubs were carved from pine and fitted with square, flat rocks at the ends of each and secured to the wood with strips of scraps of blue crafts-plastic, twine, and paracord. While the other scoutmasters labored across the 9-hole course with less refined extreme golf clubs -tree branches and scrap plywood in many instances - Scoutmaster Knudsen and Scout Bunk methodically worked their way to the finish.

"We won it by 30 strokes," Scoutmaster Knudsen laughed. "It's all due to Miles and the clubs and ball he made, he deserves all the credit. He started building the clubs on Sunday and had them done by Thursday, a day before the tournament. We had the best clubs, far and away. Everybody loved his clubs."

The trip for Troop #1429 (consisting of Bunk, KC Unckles, Bryan Bertos, Jimmy Campbell, Ryan Meneely, Eion Estill, Malachi Davis, Dre Oshio, and Ryder Anderson ) to the K-M Scout Ranch north of Lewistown took place July 23-thru-29 and the scouts earned merit badges including badges for Wilderness Survival, Archery, Cooking, Camping, Swimming, Climbing, Black Powder, Shotgun, Welding, Kayaking, First Aid, Rifle, and Mountain Biking.