Griz golfers open fall with solid showing in Utah

The Montana women's golf team shot rounds of 322 and 308 on Monday as the Hobble Creek Fall Classic opened at the Hobble Creek Golf Course in Springville, Utah.

The Grizzlies sit 14th out of 18 teams with a final 18 holes to be played on Tuesday.

But that is only part of the story.

Montana's five scoring players had five of 10 rounds in the 70s, the others in the low 80s. The team's four other players, who are competing as individuals, shot six of their eight rounds in the 70s.

That group was highlighted by the play of Madison Cecil, who shot rounds of 75 and 73, and sits tied for eighth, the tournament's low individual.

While those scores didn't help Montana on the scoreboard, it does show the increased depth of talent that coach Kris Nord is putting together.

Had he been able to pick the best scores from his entire team, the Grizzlies would have had rounds of 308 and 302 and ended the day three strokes out of the top five.

"I'm not discouraged at all by our play," he said. "We had girls who hit the ball real well but just couldn't score. They get the short game and putting going, we'll be fine.

"We had some nerves, the first tournament out of the gate and getting back into the swing of things. I loved how we turned it around the second round and played better."

In Montana's opening-round 322, senior Jessica Ponce shot a 79, but the Grizzlies' other four scoring players were all 80 or higher.

All five of them shot a better score in the second round.

Ponce went from 79 to 77, Raina Ports from 80 to 76, Kendall Hayward from 81 to 76, Tricia Joyce from 82 to 79 and Emmy Sundby from 84 to 82.

"Pretty tough golf course, putting-wise especially," said Nord. "There's places you couldn't be on the green without really struggling to make a two-putt and not a three-putt."

Ports and Ponce are both tied for 48th at +14. Hayward is a stroke back at +15.

The breakout performance came from Cecil, the Murray State transfer who played in six of nine events last season in her first year as a Grizzly. She had a scoring average of 82.4.

She played consistent golf on Monday. Over 36 holes, she carded eight bogeys, two birdies and everything else was played at par.

She was at her best on the par-4's. She played those holes to an average score of 4.11. Only two players in the 110-golfer field played them better.

Cecil is five strokes off the 36-hole lead of UC Riverside's Tiffany Le (72-71) and Weber State's Jessica Zelasko (72-71).

"When she showed up last year, she was shooting the same way, but she hit a lull and got off track and didn't get to travel, but she's got that golf in her," said Nord.

"She's got some good talent. We just want her to show it a little more consistently."

The tournament was the collegiate debut for Ports and Hayward, who both shot a second-round 76, as well as for Hannah Ports, who took seven strokes off her opening round to post a 78 in round two.

"With Raina, if she gets her putter going, she's going to be dangerous," said Nord. "She's very talented.

"None of them play like freshmen on the course. They play like upperclassmen. They didn't score today to reflect what they were doing."

Meredith Boos (76-80) and Kylie Franklin (78-79) also are competing as individuals. Boos is tied for 48th. Franklin is tied for 52nd.

Boise State (299-293) holds the 36-hole lead. Portland State (305-298), Weber State (303-301), Wyoming (310-298) and CSU Fullerton (301-306) round out the top five.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Boos

Madison Cecil

Kylie Franklin

Kendall Hayward

Tricia Joyce

Jessica Ponce

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

Emmy Sundby

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