Saturday, March 19
Oakcreek Country Club<br>Sedona, Ariz.
Montana
at
Red Rocks Invitational
Montana ties for 13th at Red Rocks Invitational
3/20/2022 6:20:00 PM | Golf
SEDONA, Ariz. – The Montana women's golf team wrapped up its last day in Sedona, tying at 13th place with Utah Valley. Despite the tough, windy conditions on the last day, the team progressively got better each round, scoring 306 and 302 for the second and third rounds.
"Everybody played really well. A couple of people had a couple of bigger numbers but they bounced back and followed it up with birdies," said assistant coach Jim Mee.
"Honestly, the whole team played really well today, it was tough out there. It was really windy, but it was cool to see them battle and work their way toward the middle of the pack. They showed some really good golf that we can hopefully take on further into the spring."
In the third round, each player logged at least one birdie, helping the team achieve its lowest score of the weekend.
Senior Kylie Esh led the Griz, scoring 74 in both second and third rounds, totaling four birdies for both. Esh finished the weekend tying for 28th overall in the tournament.
"Kylie always hits pretty well. She struggled a little bit with putting the first day, which makes sense because we haven't had a lot of time putting. Honestly, what was most impressive to see with her this weekend was how far the mental aspect of her game has come just from last fall. It's a hard thing to do, improve your mental game that much that fast, but it was really impressive to see how far she's come," added Mee.
Juniors Emmy Sundby and Jessica Ponce tied for second on the team and 50th in the tournament. Sundby scored 76 in both the second and third rounds, taking the challenges she faced head-on. The South Dakota native tallied five birdies in the third round helping her come back after a couple of double bogeys.
"Emmy played really well. She put in a lot of work over the winter. She made a lot of birdies which is really cool to see. It was amazing to see her bounce back after a bad hole and come back with a birdie," said Mee.
Ponce played solid per usual, despite the tough play in the second round. The junior finished the second round scoring 79 but came back in the third to score 77.
"She's always playing pretty solidly. Lots of pars, she's steady. You can pretty much guarantee that you don't really have to worry about Jess out there, she's going to take care of business and do what she does," added Mee.
Madison Cecil saved her best round for last. The sophomore increasingly got better throughout each round, improving her score to 77 in round two and finishing with a score of 75 in the third round. The Grizzly logged four birdies in the last two rounds.
"She had a couple of bad holes to start in that third round, but she played her last eight or nine holes, maybe even 10 holes, one-under. She always hits it pretty well, though last time we saw her on the grass she struggled with her putter a little bit. Once we noticed that, we got a different putter in her hands and changed some things up and she took to it really well. She did a good job putting this week as she got more comfortable with that new putter. She looked really solid with it," said Mee.
Meredith Boos tallied a total of four birdies in the last two rounds as well, but the conditions didn't help her despite the efforts. The sophomore improved from the first round, scoring 80 in both the second and third rounds.
Montana will be back on the green in two weeks for the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. The tournament will take place April 4-5 at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
"Everybody played really well. A couple of people had a couple of bigger numbers but they bounced back and followed it up with birdies," said assistant coach Jim Mee.
"Honestly, the whole team played really well today, it was tough out there. It was really windy, but it was cool to see them battle and work their way toward the middle of the pack. They showed some really good golf that we can hopefully take on further into the spring."
In the third round, each player logged at least one birdie, helping the team achieve its lowest score of the weekend.
Senior Kylie Esh led the Griz, scoring 74 in both second and third rounds, totaling four birdies for both. Esh finished the weekend tying for 28th overall in the tournament.
"Kylie always hits pretty well. She struggled a little bit with putting the first day, which makes sense because we haven't had a lot of time putting. Honestly, what was most impressive to see with her this weekend was how far the mental aspect of her game has come just from last fall. It's a hard thing to do, improve your mental game that much that fast, but it was really impressive to see how far she's come," added Mee.
Juniors Emmy Sundby and Jessica Ponce tied for second on the team and 50th in the tournament. Sundby scored 76 in both the second and third rounds, taking the challenges she faced head-on. The South Dakota native tallied five birdies in the third round helping her come back after a couple of double bogeys.
"Emmy played really well. She put in a lot of work over the winter. She made a lot of birdies which is really cool to see. It was amazing to see her bounce back after a bad hole and come back with a birdie," said Mee.
Ponce played solid per usual, despite the tough play in the second round. The junior finished the second round scoring 79 but came back in the third to score 77.
"She's always playing pretty solidly. Lots of pars, she's steady. You can pretty much guarantee that you don't really have to worry about Jess out there, she's going to take care of business and do what she does," added Mee.
Madison Cecil saved her best round for last. The sophomore increasingly got better throughout each round, improving her score to 77 in round two and finishing with a score of 75 in the third round. The Grizzly logged four birdies in the last two rounds.
"She had a couple of bad holes to start in that third round, but she played her last eight or nine holes, maybe even 10 holes, one-under. She always hits it pretty well, though last time we saw her on the grass she struggled with her putter a little bit. Once we noticed that, we got a different putter in her hands and changed some things up and she took to it really well. She did a good job putting this week as she got more comfortable with that new putter. She looked really solid with it," said Mee.
Meredith Boos tallied a total of four birdies in the last two rounds as well, but the conditions didn't help her despite the efforts. The sophomore improved from the first round, scoring 80 in both the second and third rounds.
Montana will be back on the green in two weeks for the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. The tournament will take place April 4-5 at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
Players Mentioned
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