Montana ties for eighth in Goodyear

Sunday, April 9

Golf Club of Estrella; Goodyear, Ariz.

Montana

Bobcat Spring Invitational

4/11/2023 3:37:00 PM | Golf

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's golf team shot a final-round 304 on Tuesday and tied for eighth out of 11 teams at the Bobcat Spring Invitational, held at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz.

Tricia Joyce (77-76-73) carded a 1-over 73 on Tuesday, the sixth time in her career posting a score of 73 or lower, to tie for 20th in the individual standings.

Raina Ports (77-76-74) was one stroke behind in a tie for 22nd. Outside of a double and triple bogey on both Sunday and Monday, Ports played the other 50 holes of the tournament at 1-over.

"Tricia and Raina I feel really good about," said coach Kris Nord. "We have to find two others to join them if we're going to be competitive, so more work to do."

The Big Sky Conference Championship will open on Monday at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. "We don't have time to plod along. We have to get better quicker."

Nord had a third golfer under 75 on Tuesday in Meredith Boos (83-85-74), who was competing for the first time this spring, but she was playing as an individual and not eligible for the team score.

Boos was even par or 1-under through her first 15 holes but gave away some strokes late in her round to finish 2-over.

"I was glad to see her get it going. Her first rounds were not her best golf, but she's not had a chance to play much. I was glad to see her finish strong," said Nord.

Madison Cecil (82-75-79) tied for 42nd, Jessica Ponce (88-78-78) and Kylie Franklin (82-83-79) tied for 53rd. Boos tied for 50th.

Grand Canyon (289-291-283), which had scoring rounds of 70, 71, 71 and 71 on Tuesday, won the tournament by 17 strokes over Idaho (295-297-288). Weber State (299-298-294) placed third.

Eight of the teams in the field were from the Big Sky and didn't include Sacramento State, which ranks 59th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings. Montana topped only Idaho State in Goodyear.

"The league has gotten better and everybody keeps getting better," said Nord. "We need to find our way into the 290s or we'll never be in the discussion."

Grand Canyon's Constanza Guerrero (66-71-71) and Idaho's Wei-Chia Tsai (71-75-69) both shot under par for 54 holes to finish first and second.

The Big Sky Championship will be played Monday through Wednesday next week, with 18 holes each day. Montana hasn't finished higher than seventh since 2015.