Griz tied for 17th at Southern Dunes

Senior Baylee Barckley and freshman Kylie Esh both shot second-round 72s on Monday as the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic got under way at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.

Sparked by those even-par rounds, Montana improved by 14 strokes on the opening day of the tournament, going from a 315 in the morning round to a 301 in the afternoon.

The Grizzlies are tied for 17th in the 20-team field, or right where they were projected to be based on the latest Golf Stat rankings.

"It's a strong field, no doubt," said coach Kris Nord. "Obviously we'd like to play a little better and finish a little higher. That will be the goal for tomorrow."

The Cowgirl Classic is the last tournament for Montana before the Big Sky Conference Championship later this month.

With six players competing this week for the team's five spots at the conference championship, nerves had their way in the opening round according to Nord.

Barckley, with a 76, and Esh, with a 78, were the only two Grizzlies to card a score in the 70s in the first round.

Five of Montana's six players -- freshman Brooklyn Van Bebber is competing as an individual -- shot a better score in the second round.

Barckley, who had her best score in what is now 11 tournament rounds at Southern Dunes over the last four years, cut four strokes. Esh cut six for her best score as a collegiate golfer.

Barckley is tied for 21st going into Tuesday's final round. Esh is tied for 33rd.

"They both got a hot putter for a while," said Nord. "I felt like they hit irons pretty well all day. The greens are hard to figure. They are inconsistent with how they accept approach shots, so it was frustrating. They handled it better the second round."

Barckley had just one birdie in her opening round, none on Southern Dunes' four par-5s, out of character for the long hitter.

She had five birdies in the second round, including two on the course's par-3s.

Barckley was sitting at 2-under for the round when she stepped up to the tee for her final hole of the day, the 355-yard, par-4 12th.

She would card a six, her only double bogey of the day.

"She missed her drive, and it's a very tough hole to miss a drive on," said Nord. "There is no real way to get back in play without taking some risk.

"She caught the bunker with her second shot. It proved to be a tough hole. But she played very well today."

After taking a pair of double bogeys in the morning round, Esh played an efficient second 18. She had two birdies, two bogeys and 14 pars.

She, too, could have been under par, but she bogeyed her final hole, the par-5 13th. "Kylie could have shot in the 60s had she made a few more putts," said Nord.

Faith D'Ortenzio (80-76) is tied for 72nd, Teigan Avery (81-81) is tied for 96th, Allison Sobol (82-81) is 102nd. Van Bebber is tied for 107th after shooting rounds of 87 and 84.

UTEP (300-286) holds the 36-hole lead, but the Miners have plenty of company. Five teams will be within five strokes of the leader when play resumes on Tuesday, including Northern Colorado (297-292).

Santa Clara (289-299) and New Mexico State (293-295) are tied for second, two strokes behind UTEP.

Seven players are under par through two rounds, with New Mexico State's Suthavee Chanachai (67-69) at 8-under.

Northern Colorado's Beah Cruz (71-68) and Portland State's Jasine Cabajar (72-70) are two of those seven players.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Teigan Avery

Baylee Barckley

Faith D'Ortenzio

Kylie Esh

Allison Sobol

Brooklyn Van Bebber

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