Griz picked third in Big Sky preseason golf poll
2/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Golf
The Montana women's golf team was picked third in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll that was released Tuesday. And that the league's coaches think so highly of the Grizzlies is the good news.
The more challenging news is that standing between Montana and its first Big Sky championship since 2006 are two teams that collected all 12 first-place votes in the poll: Idaho, which earned eight and was voted first, and Portland State, which picked up the other four and was voted second.
The Vandals, who are making their return to the Big Sky Conference this year, were picked first in the poll after finishing runner-up at the WAC championship two of the last three years.
The Vikings won last year's Big Sky title by 15 strokes over the field and have won the championship three of the last five years, with a runner-up finish in 2013.
So it's a daunting task Montana faces, but there is this: The Grizzlies beat both teams at their final tournament of the fall.
Montana defeated Idaho by nine strokes and Portland State by 14 at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational at Lakewood, Wash., in October, and the Grizzlies did so without junior Hayley Bingham and redshirt sophomore Alexa Schendelman, both of whom were injured but are now close to full health.
"To beat those teams in our last tournament was a nice way to end the fall and go into winter. And that was without Alexa and Hayley," said second-year UM coach Joni Stephens.
"We have the ability to win conference. What it will come down to is how well we transition from winter break into our spring season, and I'm pretty pleased with what I'm seeing so far. I think we're starting pretty close to where we were at the end of the fall."
At full health, Montana should have as good a five-player roster as any team in the Big Sky, and it starts at the top. Schendelman (74.4), sophomore Barbora Bakova (75.8) and senior Tara Green (75.9) all had fall scoring averages below 76.
Schendelman tied for fifth at 4-over at the Oregon State Invitational, and Bakova tied for fourth at 1-under at the Washington State Cougar Cup. Green was the team's top finisher at its other three tournaments last fall.
Filling out Montana's roster are Bingham, junior Phoebe Tan, sophomore Amanda Kahn and freshman Hailey Hoagland.
Kahn had a fall scoring average of 77.4, fourth on the team, and played the best tournament of her career at Washington State, where she shot rounds of 75, 74 and 74. Hoagland played six of her 14 rounds in the fall at 77 or better in her collegiate debut and finished with a scoring average of 78.9.
Bingham, who was limited to eight rounds in the fall, had a scoring average of 78.5. Tan had an average of 79.0, also while playing in eight of 14 rounds.
Montana will open its spring schedule in early March at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational at Kaneohe, Hawaii, and also compete that month at the Sacramento State Invitational at Roseville, Calif., and the Montana State Bobcat Invitational at Goodyear, Ariz.
The Grizzlies will take a break from tournament stroke play and go head-to-head against Portland State in match play on April 4. That will take place two days before the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic and be played at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz., site of the Big Sky championship two weeks later.
"We didn't fill up all of our play dates this year, so we had some leeway to add a few more matches or tournaments," Stephens said. "We'll both be at Wyoming's tournament, so we set this up. It will be fun for our girls, something different.
"It will be some fun, healthy competition with Portland State and give the girls a lot of confidence on the golf course as we head into the championship."
Montana finished fourth at the Big Sky championship last spring, up from an eighth-place finish in 2013. The Grizzlies have finished either fourth or fifth at the championship seven of the eight years since winning the title in 2006.
2015 Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll
1. Idaho (8) ... 118
2. Portland State (4) ... 114
3. Montana ... 96
4. Southern Utah ... 90
5. Northern Arizona ... 85
6. Sacramento State ... 71
7. Weber State ... 61
8. Montana State ... 49
9. Northern Colorado ... 41
10. Eastern Washington ... 35
11. North Dakota ... 21
12. Idaho State ... 11
Players Mentioned
