Griz golfers card 311 as spring season opens

The Montana women's golf team shot a 311, with five scores in the 70s, as the Grizzlies opened their spring season on Thursday at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational in St. George, Utah.

Montana is tied for 11th overall and tied for third out of the six Big Sky Conference teams that are competing at the Sunbrook Golf Course.

The Grizzlies opened their spring season the last two years at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational as well and had first-day scores of 321 and 324.

"I'm encouraged by the way everyone handled the first day of competition and being outside," said coach Kris Nord. "It's just good to get outside and hit off turf."

Tricia Joyce, who opened her day with an eagle on the par-4, 237-yard 14th, shot a 77, which matched her best round from Montana's four fall tournaments. She is tied for 39th overall.

Jessica Ponce, Madison Cecil and Kylie Franklin all shot 78, Raina Ports a 79.

Out of 90 holes played by the five Grizzlies on Thursday, only five were scored at double or triple bogey. Montana had six birdies and Joyce's eagle.

"We had one or two holes that were our demise and played really well the rest of the time, so it's encouraging," said Nord.

"The putting was where I thought it would be after not being on grass. They all hung in there real well. I loved their demeanor on the course. If we can get it going, there is a lot of upside to the crew."

Joyce, starting her day at the 14th, a drivable par 4, put her first tee shot of the spring right on the green and right on line with the pin.

"I saw it enter the green and had to run up when people started reacting to see how close it came," Nord said. "It was close, four and a half feet right under the pin.

"If it rolled a few more feet she had a hole-in-one. She drained the eagle putt. It was a really cool way to start."

Joyce had a double bogey on the 16th, a triple on the 6th plus two birdies on the front nine as well for an eventful first day.

Ponce was the lone Grizzly to avoid anything worse than a bogey. She had six bogeys for her round, the rest pars. Cecil had back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15.

Six teams broke 300, with Wyoming (290) being trailed by Boise State (293), North Dakota State (294), California Baptist (296) and Utah Tech (297) and UC Riverside (297).

Weber State, at 307, had the best day by a team from the Big Sky. Portland State shot a 309, Northern Colorado matched Montana at 311.

UC Riverside's Tiffany Le (69), Wyoming's Samantha Hui (70) and CSU Bakersfield's Sarah Mutai (71) all broke par for the first round.

Teams will play 18 holes on Friday and 18 holes on Saturday.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Madison Cecil

Kylie Franklin

Tricia Joyce

Jessica Ponce

Raina Ports

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