Griz off to a good start in Arizona

The Montana women's golf team, which competed last week in Utah, used ideal weather and a limited amount of days between rounds on grass to make a little bit of history on Saturday as the Red Rocks Invitational got underway at Agave Highlands in Cornville, Ariz.

Senior Baylee Barckley shot an opening-round 68 to match the best score in program history. Her 3-under round helped the Grizzlies card a 292, the third-best score in program history.

Jill Walker shot a 68 at the Colorado State Invitational in 2006. Tara Green carded a 68 at both the Cal State Fullerton Invitational in 2012 and the 2013 Grizzly Invitational at the Missoula Country Club.

Montana followed its 292 with a 303 in the second round and is sitting in 11th place out of 18 teams.

"With the tournament we just played in Utah so close to this one, we're playing more and more on grass, so all of us are starting to find our swings," said Barckley, who had never played Agave Highlands, which became the host course when Oakcreek Country Club suffered recent weather damage.

"Coming to a course we've never played before, you don't have a previous experience to fall back on. It feels like you can start from scratch. I kind of feel like we're a little stronger when it's a new course and something new to us."

After shooting a 68 in the morning, Barckley added a 1-over 72 in the afternoon and is tied for seventh, five strokes behind 36-hole leader Delaney Elliott (67-68) of Montana State.

Freshmen Kylie Esh (75-78), Allison Sobol (74-79) and Brooklyn Van Bebber (75-78) are all tied for 69th. Teigan Avery (81-75) and Faith D'Ortenzio (77-82) also are competing for the Grizzlies.

A record-tying round wasn't on Barckley's mind on Saturday morning after Montana arrived at the course and made a stop at the range.

"I wasn't hitting the ball well at all. I was shooting everything to the right. Nothing was working. I wasn't feeling confident when it was time to go to the opening hole," said Barckley, who started her day on No. 16, meaning she would face the course's three most difficult holes to open her round.

She started with three straight pars on the par-3 16th, the par-4 17th and the par-5 18th.

"I just made sure to put a solid swing on things, and I scrambled for my first three pars," she said. "Once I was through those holes and shook the nerves off, I really took advantage. I just tried to dial in and go back to a swing I knew."

She was 1-over through her first five holes before catching fire. She would birdie seven of the next 10 holes to twice get down to 4-under.

"The swing just felt really, really good. I just played off adrenaline the whole time," said Barckley, who birdied three straight par-5s during that stretch of holes.

"A couple of those are reachable in two. If I hit a solid drive and had a club that I liked to the green, I'd go for it. But I love 100 yards and in to a green. I feel like that's my shot. So if I couldn't get there in two, I'd lay up and know I'd be able to get close with my wedge."

She was 4-under going into her final hole of the opening round, the par-4 15th, which she would bogey and have to settle for a record-tying round instead of a record-setting score.

"That kind of killed the mood a little bit, but I talked to (coach Kris Nord) and he said, 'Forget about it. Go off what you've been doing the whole round. You're playing great,' " said Barckley.

She would have just a single birdie in her second round after carding seven in her first, but also only two bogeys, half as many as she carded during her round of 68.

"Nothing dropped for me that second round, but I can't really complain. Everything was dropping for me the first round," she said.

"And the wind picked up. It was a two-, two-and-a-half-club wind the second round. That probably affected (my score) a little bit. I was putting the shots there, but I wasn't putting the second shot as close as I was the first round. I think that was the difference."

Gonzaga (277-292) holds the lead through 36 holes, with 18 left to be played on Sunday morning. Five other teams are within seven strokes of the Bulldogs: Cal State Fullerton (286-287), Southern Utah (285-289), New Mexico State (281-294), Northern Arizona (278-297) and Cal Baptist (288-288).

"The first round was perfect golf weather. We finished the first round before the wind started to pick up," said Barckley.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow, because we're teeing off at the same time, so the wind shouldn't pick up until we're done. It should be possible to go low again."

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Teigan Avery

Baylee Barckley

Faith D'Ortenzio

Kylie Esh

Tara Green

Allison Sobol

Brooklyn Van Bebber

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