Montana
Wyoming Cowgirl Classic
Golfers crush school record in Cowgirl final
4/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Golf
April 5, 2011
The University of Montana women's golf team handed in a team round of 288 in Tuesday's final of the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Chandler, Ariz, topping the UM single-round record of 294 by six strokes. The score was the lowest of the day and elevated the Grizzlies four places and into sixth overall.
The record-setting effort also helped the Grizzlies to take the two-round team record as well. Combined efforts of 308 and 288 took six strokes off the record from the fall of 2009 with a 590 two-round total.
Montana's three-round team score of 911 tied the fourth-best all-time Montana tournament score.
Following the round Tuesday, UM coach Joanne Steele said, "It was incredible how they played today. It was really a matter of perseverance, which I say is again and again the amazing thing about these players. Any time that you throw out a 76, which was a great round shot by Ashli today, you know that your team has done something serious.
"The mental fortitude that they show given weather at home, three tournaments played without once practicing on grass, and the bumps that they take in competition--those things are not so easy to overcome, and they just turn their minds forward over and over again.
"Resilient is really the best word for how these girls have been playing. They have not been satisfied with any of their scores this spring. You see them just driving to improve in every round, every tournament. Here they got 315, then dropped to 308 at the end of a long day. Today they shot 288 and they are still not where they want to be-where they can be.
"Right now, after 13 hours yesterday and a very long round today, Ashley (Helstrom) is out there practicing. They have a day off tomorrow and will all be on the course independently, working to achieve and execute at that level that they have not even seen yet. They just keep moving forward."
Following the event, the grizzlies were just three strokes behind Big Sky preseason favorite Northern Arizona. Both teams will be looking to close the forty stroke gap to 2011 Cowgirl Classic winner and defending conference champ Portland State.
Billings native Rose Stepanek shot the lowest UM round of the day with a 70, four strokes better than her personal best, which the senior carded last week at the Cal Poly-hosted Lamkin Grip Match Play event in California. 70 was also the third-best round of the Cowgirl final.
Stepanek said, "It was much easier to maintain focus today. Yesterday's round was so long that I really allowed my mind to get away from me, in effect losing my swing with it.
"Still, having gone through that, you know that you can do it again, and we knew that today's final was going to be very long as well."
As to the team effort, Stepanek said, "When you look at it, we believed that we were capable of this and much more. Having a round like today's just shows everyone-every team exactly what we can do, that we are dangerous.
"We have proven to ourselves and everyone that this team isn't just talk, that we really are that good."
Following several days of practice at Ocotillo Golf Resort, the Montana team will return to the Chandler, Ariz. course April 18-20 for the Big Sky Championship Tournament.
6 Montana 315 308 288 911
T13 Carissa Simmons:75, 76, 73, 224
T37 Rose Stepanek: 77, 84, 70, 231
T39 Ashli Helstrom: 78, 78, 76, 232
T42 Lauren Howell: 85, 76, 72, 233
T64 Olivia Weber: 87, 78, 73, 238
