Barckley ties for second, Griz finish third

Results

Montana junior Baylee Barckley shot a final-round 74 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for second as the Loyola Invitational concluded at the Flossmoor Country Club in Flossmoor, Ill.

Barckley (77-76-74--227) tied with Loyola's Elayna Bowser (72-79-76--227) at 11-over. Both finished behind IUPUI's Aneta Abrahamova (76-74-72--222), who finished five strokes clear of the field.

Only two rounds -- Bowser's even-par 72 in Monday's first round and Abrahamova's 72 on Tuesday -- were played to a lower score than Barckley's 2-over 74 on Tuesday.

Senior Kari Opatz (80-78-77--235) shot a 77 on Tuesday and finished in ninth place. Senior Hailey Hoagland (79-85-75--239) shot a 75 for the final round to place 15th.

It was the only round of the tournament Montana had three players post scores in the 70s.

"The girls hit the ball well today," said coach Kris Nord. "We needed a few more breaks to go our way, but we played better. Our goal was to get better today than yesterday, so we were happy.

"I was watching some of the other teams that finished ahead of us, and they just made more putts over 10 feet than we did."

Teigan Avery (80-86-81--247) and Faith D'Ortenzio (88-82-89--259) were both in the 80s on Tuesday and finished tied for 32nd and 55th, respectively.

Montana's 307 on Tuesday matched the low round of the tournament by the field's 11 teams, but the Grizzlies finished the day where they started: in third place.

Loyola (307-315-312--934) held on for a three-stroke victory over Butler (313-317-307--937). The Bulldogs finished seven shots ahead of the Grizzlies (316-321-307--944).

"This was a great tournament for us to see really difficult greens and what that can do to your game," added Nord. "It affected everything.

"It was very, very difficult. If you got above the pin, you were penalized probably two shots. That's a pressure we haven't had to face, so it was a great tournament for the girls to experience."

Montana next will compete at the Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate at Palm Desert, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 1.

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Players Mentioned

Teigan Avery

Baylee Barckley

Faith D'Ortenzio

Hailey Hoagland

Kari Opatz

University of Montana Athletics