Montana
Washington State Cougar Cup
Golf finishes strong to take 10th at Cougar Cup
9/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Golf
Sept. 20, 2011
The Montana golf team stepped up in the third round to hold on to 10th place in the Washington State Cougar Cup in Pullman, Wash., today.
Just as they did in the Circling Raven Invitational a week ago the Grizzlies continued to get better as the tournament went on. As a team Montana shot 325-315-303--943.
Montana finished just two strokes behind ninth place finisher Gonzaga and only three strokes behind Big Sky Conference rival Sacramento State, the conference's top finisher, and Nevada who were tied in seventh place.
Since Montana began attending Washington State's tournament in 2008, its 303 in the third round is the lowest the Griz have ever shot at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.
Montana saw improvement from everyone throughout tournament play but most notably from junior Olivia Weber. Weber opened the tournament with an 81 but then bounced back in the second round, shooting a one-over-par 73 and following that up with a two-over-par 74.
Weber finished the tournament tied for 14th.
Senior Lauren Howell (80-78-76--234) finished the tournament tied in 34th place while fellow senior Ashli Helstrom (80-78-7--235) was only one stroke behind her finishing 38th.
Conditions were optimal today on the course at Palouse Ridge helping Montana see some major decreases in its strokes across the board. Freshman Tara Green (87-82-77--246) had her best round of the season shooting 77 today.
Freshman Katelyn Frank made her collegiate debut in Pullman shooting 90-89-85--264 over three rounds.
Natalie Beard, who competed as an individual for the tournament, shot 78-82-83--243 and finished tied in 57th place.
Washington held on to its lead from the second round to claim the team championship. The Huskies were led by a pair of freshman, SooBin Kim (76-70-75--221) and Cyd Okino (76-68-79--223), whose best scores came in the second round shooting 70 and 68 respectively.
Junior Sally Watson of Stanford sank a 40-footer on her final hole to clinch the individual tournament win. Watson's 220 (+4) is tied for the second-lowest total in tournament history.
Montana finished 11 strokes ahead of Montana State (338-310-306--954) over the 54-hole tournament, and 14 strokes ahead of Portland State (325-323-309--957) who tied for second place last week in Spokane, Wash., at The Circling Raven Invitational. Eastern Washington (339-321-323--983) ended the tournament in 13th place.
The Grizzlies will get a week off to fine tune things, and they will be back at it in the Nevada Wolf Pack Classic in Dayton, Nev., on Oct. 3-4.
Players Mentioned
