Griz golfers return to action this weekend

The Montana women's golf team will compete in its second event of the spring season this weekend when the Grizzlies head to Arizona for the Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona.

The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Oakcreek Country Club, with 36 holes scheduled for Saturday, 18 on Sunday.

Montana has competed at the tournament every spring it's been held since 2017-18.

The Grizzlies tied for 13th out of 19 teams last March, carding scores of 309, 306 and 302. In the spring of 2019, Montana opened the tournament with a 292, the third-best round in program history.

"Our kids have liked Oakcreek. It's a tough course but we've put up some of our better rounds there. It's a good test of golf and the field is usually very strong," said coach Kris Nord.

"That will be a bit of a difference for the kids, but that's exactly what we want them to feel, to play with some really good golfers and try to match them."

Montana will use the same fivesome it played with last week at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational in St. George, Utah.: Tricia Joyce (1), Raina Ports (2), Madison Cecil (3), Jessica Ponce (4) and Kylie Franklin (5).

Ponce (74-79-77) and Cecil (81-77-75) both competed for the Grizzlies last spring at the Red Rocks Invitational.

"The biggest challenge is the greens," said Nord. "It's an up-and-down course with a lot of slope in the greens. You need to put yourself in the right spot. If you miss, you have to miss below the hole. If you're above it, it's really tough to keep it on the green.

"Approach shots are at a premium, and that's kind of where our strength was last week, so I'm hoping it pays off this week."

Montana tied for 13th last week at Sunbrook Golf Course, shooting rounds of 311, 310 and 313. While those scores were consistent, the path to reaching those totals was not.

The team's best round was its opening 18 holes of the spring, when double and triple bogeys were kept to a minimum.

As the three-day tournament progressed, Montana generated more birdies but negated those advantages with more double and triple bogeys.

"That just meant that any of those three days could have been close to 300 or below if we could have removed some of those disaster holes, which is encouraging," said Nord.

"The kids' reaction to having those holes was much better than it's been in the past."

Joyce opened with a 77, then posted a 72 on Day 2, followed by a 76 to finish 21st overall. Her 72 was the third-lowest round of her collegiate career, the best not shot at Old Works in Anaconda.

Ponce (78-81-77) tied for 63rd, Cecil (78-78-81) placed 70th, while Franklin (78-79-82) and Ports (79-81-79) tied for 72nd.

Montana will return to Arizona in early April for two tournaments: the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Maricopa and the Bobcat Spring Invitational in Goodyear.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will be held at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale from April 17-19.

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Players Mentioned

Madison Cecil

Kylie Franklin

Tricia Joyce

Jessica Ponce

Raina Ports

University of Montana Athletics