Griz shooting for first Big Sky title since 2006
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Golf
The Montana women's golf team will attempt to win its second league title in program history next week when the Grizzlies compete at the three-day Big Sky Conference championship. Montana won its only Big Sky title in 2006.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Big Sky championship will be held at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz. The 12 league teams will play 18 holes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The winning team will represent the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA West Regional in early May. Regionals will be held at the Entrada Golf Course at St. George, Utah.
Montana, which will feature a lineup of senior Tara Green, junior Hayley Bingham and sophomores Barbora Bakova, Amanda Kahn and Alexa Schendelman, ranks fourth in the Big Sky in both season scoring average (305.96) and GolfWeek ranking (139).
Big Sky newcomer Idaho (299.48/88) is first in both rankings, defending tournament champion Portland State (305.19/126), behind 2014 medalist A Ram Choi, is second.
While the Vandals may be the top-ranked team and the Vikings, with seven Big Sky championships since 2003, may have the history, neither is a heavy favorite.
At the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic two weeks ago, a tournament that featured 10 Big Sky schools, Idaho was the top league finisher, but four other schools, including Montana, were within eight strokes of the Vandals. One of those pursuers was not Portland State, which finished 17 shots behind.
The results point toward three days of tight standings and high drama.
"The winning team is going to have to put three solid rounds together. That's really what it comes down to," said coach Joni Stephens, who led Montana to a fourth-place finish in 2014, matching the team's best finish since its 2006 championship.
"There won't be a lot of room for error. You're going to be looking for a team that shoots three rounds close to 300 or a little better than 300. Those are the kind of scores we're going to need to bring in."
Portland State went 299-306-290 to win last year, with runner-up Sacramento State posting scores of 304-301-305. The previous two Big Sky champions, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, combined to shoot all six of their rounds in the 290s.
Playing without Bakova the first two rounds at the Cowgirl Classic, Montana shot rounds of 307, 312 and 303. That performance gave the Grizzlies four scores of 307 or better in their last six rounds.
"Every tournament this spring we've gotten a little bit better, which was our goal," said Stephens. "If we did that, I knew we'd be peaking at the right time, and I think we're there.
"I think we're in a really good place. We seem to be pretty calm and focused, without a lot of anxiety, which is a good thing. It shows the confidence they have in themselves and in each other."
Bakova, who has a team-leading 75.68 season scoring average, Schendelman (75.76) and Green (76.27) all rank in the top eight in the Big Sky and all could be in contention for medalist honors by Tuesday's final round.
Bakova, a two-time Big Sky Conference Golfer of the Week this spring, is playing the most consistently of the three. She has carded scores of 77 or better her last eight rounds.
Green had one score of at least 80 in the team's first three spring tournaments, then went 71-75-76 at the Cowgirl Classic. And outside of a 79 at the Bobcat Spring Invitational, Schendelman has played eight of her last nine rounds at 77 or better.
"I think the girls are confident and feeling good about their games and their swings," Stephens said. "We're as ready as can be at this point. It's just a matter of getting it done three days in a row when we need to get it done."
But golf at the collegiate level is a team sport, and four scores from five players are what get counted. Which led Stephens to add, "Always, with every tournament, it comes down to your fourth- and fifth-man scores."
Kahn had a strong finish to the Cowgirl Classic, shooting scores of 75 and 77 after opening with an 80. Her season stroke average of 78.17 ranks fourth on the team behind Bakova, Schendelman and Green.
Bingham, who opened the 2014 Big Sky championship with scores of 74 and 76, shot a 70 in September at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic and had seven straight rounds in the 70s this spring before going 83-84-86-84 her last four outings.
"I think there has been some cautiousness and carefulness in what Hayley's been trying to do over her last several rounds," said Stephens. "This week we've really worked on being totally committed to the decisions we make, committed in our swing and trusting all the work we've done.
"The key for all the girls is how they approach things mentally. Just staying in the moment and not getting ahead of themselves and not looking back. Take care of the business at hand, which is one shot, all day long. That's our focus."
Live results of the tournament will be available at Golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
