Franklin shoots 74, leads Griz Invitational

Montana freshman Kylie Franklin shot a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and is the leader after the opening round of the Griz Invitational, which is being played at the Missoula Country Club.

Franklin was 4-over through six holes but birdied three of the final seven and will take a one-stroke lead into Wednesday's final 18 holes.

Eastern Washington's Kami Twining shot a 75, six players shot 76, including four Grizzlies, and four more shot 77, leaving 11 players within three strokes of Franklin entering the final round.

"I'm definitely excited and proud of the way I played today," said Franklin, who nearly aced the par-3 17th. "But I'm also nervous. I just have to stay confident and keep making putts."

Putting was the key to Franklin getting her round on track after a slow start. She closed the front nine with three straight pars, then played the back nine at 1-under.

"My putting saved me on a lot of holes, especially for my par saves," she said. "I had a lot of good par saves out there today.

"The front nine was pretty difficult. The back nine was a lot better. I had some birdies to kind of balance out the bogeys that I had on the front."

Hitting a 7-iron, she nearly holed out on the par-3 17th. She settled for a two-putt par, then birdied the par-5 18th with a 15-footer to finish at 74.

"We still have tomorrow, but I feel good about it," she said. "I felt really good on the range and putting green this morning."

Playing on one of its home courses, Montana had eight players shoot 78 or better, with Jessica Ponce, Allison Sobol, Tricia Joyce and Emmy Sundby all carding a 76.

Joyce was 1-under through 12 holes but took an eight on the par-4 13th to fall off the top of the leaderboard.

Sundby's 76 was the best round of her collegiate career, as was Margaret Harmon's 78. Kylie Esh and Meredith Boos both shot 77.

"The familiarity is huge for us," said coach Kris Nord of playing on a course the Griz practice on with regularity. "There are not a lot of surprises for us out here.

"I'm really happy the way we had more consistency across the board. I'm hopeful we can throw some low 70s in there tomorrow. We'll need to if we want to beat Eastern."

Eastern Washington, with countable scores of 75, 76, 76 and 77 shot a 304, one stroke better than Montana's 305.

Franklin and Sundby are both competing as individuals and didn't have their scores count toward Montana's team total.

Nevertheless, Franklin will be playing for medalist honors on Wednesday.

"I'm excited for my freshman to go out there and shoot what she shot today and have that chance," said Nord.

"I want her to feel that tomorrow. It's a good learning process to have this result, then have to go sleep on it and try to do it again tomorrow."

Wednesday's final round will begin at 10 a.m.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Boos

Kylie Esh

Kylie Franklin

Margaret Harmon

Tricia Joyce

Jessica Ponce

Allison Sobol

Emmy Sundby

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