Golf opens strong in Arizona

The Montana women's golf team opened the Bobcat Spring Invitational with a season-best 303 on Monday as the 11-team tournament got under way at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz.

The Grizzlies, who had a team average of 318.2 through their first two tournaments, are just four shots out of the top five.

"It was much better," said coach Kris Nord. "It's a little easier course, but we also hit the ball a lot better and had a few more putts drop. It was nice to see.

"It was kind of putting our heads down and saying, let's go play better. I feel like we scored a little closer to how we're hitting the ball, which is good to see."

Montana's four scoring players all shot rounds of 78 or better, led by Kylie Esh's even-par 72. Esh is tied for seventh.

Teigan Avery shot a 76, Jessica Ponce a 77, Faith D'Ortenzio a 78.

"We were all pretty happy with how we did," said Esh. "It was definitely good for all of us to prove to everyone else and to ourselves that we can do well."

Montana opened its spring season last month in St. George, Utah, then followed that up with a 54-hole tournament in Sedona, Ariz.

Esh had a season-best round of 77 going into Monday's 18 holes at Estrella, a scoring average of 79.8.

"I think this course suits my game very well. You can recover from a bad miss on a desert course because they are so open," she said.

Esh, starting at No. 9, opened her round with three consecutive pars, then birdied two of her next three holes to get to 2-under through six.

"I was feeling good warming up. I was hitting it super well, so from the beginning I was just trying to stay even and not think too far ahead. It was definitely going well from the get-go," she said.

Esh's second birdie came on the par-3 14th. With Nord watching, Esh landed her tee shot 25 feet from the hole, then sank the long birdie try.

"I was definitely not expecting to make it. It just went in," said Esh. "It was a nice feeling with Coach there watching.

"It's always fun to make putts when you're not totally expecting to make it. I haven't been putting very well this season, so it was fun to come out and putt very well today."

Esh gave one back with a bogey on No. 16, another on No. 5. Otherwise it was mostly par after par.

"Kylie drove the ball well and hit a lot of greens," said Nord. "She could have shot in the 60s.

"Even her bogeys were approach shots that missed by one yard from being a birdie opportunity, so she was dialed in. If she keeps it going tomorrow, it will be exciting to see if she can go a little lower."

Avery matched Esh with a pair of birdies to come up one stroke off her best round of the season.

D'Ortenzio, coming off a 75 in the third round at the Red Rocks Invitational, was 3-over after 17 holes on Monday and one par from duplicating it but closed with a triple bogey on her final hole of the round.

Freshman Meredith Boos rounded out Montana's five-player squad. She was 2-over through her first 10 holes before coming in with an 81.

"She stared strong and kind of had a tough finish," said Nord. "She's a good competitor, so I don't worry about her head getting in the way. She thinks her way around the course and competes real well."

Gonzaga and Cal Baptist top the leaderboard after shooting 287. Seattle shot a 290, Weber State a 298. Northern Colorado and Idaho State, which shot 299, are tied for fifth.

Three players broke 70, six broke par, with Cal Baptist's Sofia Chabon holding the 18-hole lead at 67.

The tournament will conclude on Tuesday with a final round.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Teigan Avery

Meredith Boos

Faith D'Ortenzio

Kylie Esh

Jessica Ponce

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