Weber and Green earn All-Big Sky Conference honors
4/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Golf
April 29, 2013
Montana senior Olivia Weber and sophomore Tara Green were both named to the All-Big Sky Conference women's golf team Monday. Both players were named to the five-player second team.
Weber and Green were both second-team selections a year ago as well, and Green was the 2012 Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.
Unlike other sports, which rely on coaches voting on the merits of all-conference nominations, the All-Big Sky golf team is determined by GolfStat rankings. Green finished the 2012-13 season with a ranking of 398. Weber came in at 426. The cut to make first team was 254.
Portland State's A Ram Choi, who had a league-best ranking of 112, earned Golfer of the Year honors. Her ranking was the lowest by a Big Sky golfer of the year since the league started utilizing computer rankings for its all-conference teams in 2005.
Northern Arizona's Savana Bezdicek, whose No. 254 ranking allowed her to make the first-team cut, was named Freshman of the Year.
Weber had a stroke average of 76.9 in 2012-13 to lower her career average to 77.8, second best in program history behind Lauren Howell's 77.7.
She had a memorable final season that started with her first collegiate title last September at the Montana State Invitational. It concluded with her best collegiate scoring tournament last week at the Big Sky Conference championship at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.
Weber opened with a 1-under 71 on the first of three days, then shot subsequent rounds of 74 and 72 to finish in a tie for fifth to earn all-tournament honors. Her three-day total of 217 was the best of her career, two shots better than the 219 she shot to win MSU's tournament.
"Olivia had some ups and downs in each of those three rounds, but she fought hard, so it was really exciting to see her come away with such a strong finish," UM coach Emily Milberger said.
"All the pieces came together and culminated at conference her senior year. It doesn't get any better than that. Her teammates got to see that, and now they know that it can all come together and that hard works pays off."
Weber, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was the only senior on this year's team, and she and Green were the only two players with previous Montana playing experience.
Hayley Bingham, Kyla Clancy and Lindsay Reeve joined the team prior to the fall, Bingham and Clancy as freshmen; Reeve, a junior, transferred from New Mexico State. Freshman Phoebe Tan, a native of Singapore, joined the team in January
"As the only senior with a young team around her, Olivia really took the reins and showed everybody what Griz golf is all about," Milberger said. "She really led them this year, through the good times and the bad."
Green, from Harrisville, Utah, had a team-high three top-10 finishes in 2012-13 and finished the year with a 76.7 stroke average, the third-lowest in program history.
She was Montana's low scorer at seven of the team's 11 tournaments and played her final 13 rounds in the 70s. She tied for 18th at last week's Big Sky championship with rounds of 79, 75 and 74 to finish 12-over.
Green finished with a stroke average of 77.6 her freshman year.
"It's not something that directly shows up on the scoreboard, but the maturity of Tara's game has really come a long way," Milberger said.
"The more you play and start growing in your game, the more mature you get with your decision-making and how you manage your emotions and mind when you're out on the course. Tara really made some big strides in those areas this year."
Reeve will be next year's lone senior, but Green will be the successor to Weber as the team's leader. She'll have three returning sophomores a year behind her, plus at least two newcomers.
Amanda Kahn, of Carlsbad, Calif., signed a National Letter of Intent in November. Milberger expects to announce the addition of a second freshman later this spring.
"Tara's just going to continue to make more and more improvements as she gets into her junior and senior years," Milberger said. "She's really excited about working on some things this summer and just continuing to get better."
2013 All-Big Sky Conference Golf Team
First Team
A Ram Choi, Portland State (So., 112 GolfStat ranking)
# Stephanie Kim, Northern Arizona (Sr., 147)
Kelsey Chugg, Weber State (Sr., 155)
$ Carleigh Silvers, Northern Colorado (Sr., 209)
Sadie Palmer, Southern Utah (Sr., t-254)
Savana Bezdicek, Northern Arizona (Fr., t-254)
% Paige Crawford, Montana State (So., 462)
$ Two-time first-team selection
# Three-time first-team selection
% Automatic first-team spot by virtue of winning Big Sky championship
Second Team
Kaitlen Parsons, Northern Arizona (Jr., 293)
Britney Yada, Portland State (Sr., 306)
Tara Green, Montana (So., 398)
Amanda Snyder, Weber State (Sr., 422)
Olivia Weber, Montana (Sr., 426)
