Griz head to Arizona for Red Rocks Invitational

The Montana women's golf team will compete this weekend at the Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Ariz.

The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played Saturday and Sunday at the Oakcreek Country Club and feature a full field of 20 teams.

Gonzaga (62), Sacramento State (87) and Grand Canyon (89), each ranked among the top 100 teams in the nation, highlight the field. Eight other teams rank in the top 150.

The top three teams in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll, Sacramento State, Idaho and host Northern Arizona, will be competing, as will four other league teams.

"This is the hardest field we'll be in all year, without question," said coach Kris Nord. "It's loaded. If you get caught up watching other people, you're in trouble, simple as that."

Montana won't have played at Oakcreek since the spring of 2018. Last year's event was canceled. The 2019 tournament had to be moved to Cornville, Ariz., because of wintery weather in Sedona.

"It's a tough course. It's a tougher course than St. George," said Nord, whose team opened its schedule last week at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational. "I hope we got the nerves out and we're ready to go play."

Competing for the Grizzlies this weekend will be seniors Teigan Avery and Faith D'Ortenzio, juniors Kylie Esh and Allison Sobol, and sophomore Jessica Ponce, who led Montana in St. George with rounds of 79 and 80.

Avery (85-75) and D'Ortenzio (78-82) were one shot behind Ponce, with Esh (84-77) two shots back.

Sophomore Tricia Joyce will be competing this weekend as an individual. She made the cut over freshman Meredith Boos and sophomore Emmy Sundby.

"Figuring out who the individual is was tough. It was a hard decision. Meredith and Emmy posted some good turnaround scores," said Nord.

The Lady Thunderbird Invitational was shortened by weather to a one-day, two-round tournament. It was the first time Montana had competed as a team in a year.

The Grizzlies, with just five scores in the 70s out of 20 rounds played by their squad of 10, shot team scores of 324 and 314 and finished 12th out of 15 teams.

"We weren't the only team. I saw some good, good players throw up some huge scores, so it wasn't just us," said Nord. "I think it was a tournament-wide effect of kids being excited to be back in competition.

"The biggest area we can work on right away is course management. If you get in trouble, don't complicate it by staying in trouble. Get out of trouble, take your medicine.

"I hope we can go out this weekend and play golf and not be so stressed. We didn't quite do that this last tournament."

Nord had with him for the first time assistant coach Jim Mee, who is an assistant pro at the Ranch Club in Missoula.

It was a huge benefit in St. George, with all 10 players on the team competing.

"It's been wonderful," said Nord. "He sees things in the golf swing I don't see. He's played college golf and he's played in a lot of tournaments, so he understands what you can and can't do in the midst of a competition."

The Red Rocks Invitational will be the second of three tournaments Montana will compete in prior to next month's Big Sky Conference Championship.

The Grizzlies won't compete again until the Bobcat Desert Classic in Goodyear, Ariz., on April 12-13. One week after that is Big Sky, which will be held in Molalla, Ore.

"We'll have good competition for the next three weeks to see who goes to Goodyear. I hope to be playing three qualifying rounds a week to firm up the spots," said Nord.

"I want to give everyone a legitimate shot to go to Goodyear. We've got to keep it competitive so everyone feels a little urgency to stay dialed in."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teigan Avery

Meredith Boos

Faith D'Ortenzio

Kylie Esh

Tricia Joyce

Jessica Ponce

Allison Sobol

Emmy Sundby

University of Montana Athletics