Monday, April 17
Talking Stick Golf Club; Scottsdale, Ariz.
Montana
at
Big Sky Conference Championship
Griz place ninth at Big Sky Championship
4/19/2023 5:01:00 PM | Golf
The Montana women's golf team closed the Big Sky Conference Championship with a 313 on Wednesday and a ninth-place finish at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
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The Grizzlies were in seventh place on Monday after shooting an opening-round 301, then dropped to eighth on Tuesday with a 304.
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Tricia Joyce (71-75-76) and Raina Ports (75-75-76) both shot 76 on Wednesday. The rest of the team was in the 80s.
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Joyce, who played more holes at par at the Championship than all but two golfers in the 49-player field, tied for 16th, Ports tied for 28th.
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Kylie Franklin carded an 80 on Wednesday, Jessica Ponce an 81, Madison Cecil an 86.
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"It was a pretty big disappointment to finish this way," said coach Kris Nord. "I feel like we're a lot better than that. I really wanted to get to 300 or below and we weren't even close."
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Montana played the Championship's first 37 holes without anything worse than a bogey. The Grizzlies had eight double or triple bogeys over the last 17 holes.
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"We didn't hit as many fairways today. We got in the junk and didn't make really good decisions to accept a bogey and get out of there," said Nord.
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"We tried to play for a par and it got us a number of times. We weren't putting as well so it started snowballing."
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Joyce's only other Big Sky Championship experience came last April when she tied for 49th.
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She shot a 71 on Monday, a 75 on Tuesday and wrapped up her collegiate career with a 76 on Wednesday, birdieing two of the last four holes after double-bogeying the 14th.
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"She competed great," said Nord. "She had a frustrating day and hung on real well. I like how she responds to bad holes. We needed two or three others to do the same.
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"That was a frustrating part. Controlling your mental state is half of golf and we didn't do that across the board."
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Ports' finish was the best by a Montana freshman since Kylie Esh tied for 24th in 2019. Franklin (79-74-80) tied for 36th, Ponce (78-81-81) finished 43rd, Cecil 44th (77-80-86).
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Sacramento State (282-281-293) won the team title by 16 strokes over runner-up Montana State (290-286-296). Weber State (290-283-301) was third.
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The Hornets, who won their fifth title, have finished first or second at every Championship since 2014.
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Sacramento State's Caitlin Maurice (69-66-76) won the individual title by one stroke over Eastern Washington's Jaelin Ishikawa (69-70-73).
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The Grizzlies were in seventh place on Monday after shooting an opening-round 301, then dropped to eighth on Tuesday with a 304.
Â
Tricia Joyce (71-75-76) and Raina Ports (75-75-76) both shot 76 on Wednesday. The rest of the team was in the 80s.
Â
Joyce, who played more holes at par at the Championship than all but two golfers in the 49-player field, tied for 16th, Ports tied for 28th.
Â
Kylie Franklin carded an 80 on Wednesday, Jessica Ponce an 81, Madison Cecil an 86.
Â
"It was a pretty big disappointment to finish this way," said coach Kris Nord. "I feel like we're a lot better than that. I really wanted to get to 300 or below and we weren't even close."
Â
Montana played the Championship's first 37 holes without anything worse than a bogey. The Grizzlies had eight double or triple bogeys over the last 17 holes.
Â
"We didn't hit as many fairways today. We got in the junk and didn't make really good decisions to accept a bogey and get out of there," said Nord.
Â
"We tried to play for a par and it got us a number of times. We weren't putting as well so it started snowballing."
Â
Joyce's only other Big Sky Championship experience came last April when she tied for 49th.
Â
She shot a 71 on Monday, a 75 on Tuesday and wrapped up her collegiate career with a 76 on Wednesday, birdieing two of the last four holes after double-bogeying the 14th.
Â
"She competed great," said Nord. "She had a frustrating day and hung on real well. I like how she responds to bad holes. We needed two or three others to do the same.
Â
"That was a frustrating part. Controlling your mental state is half of golf and we didn't do that across the board."
Â
Ports' finish was the best by a Montana freshman since Kylie Esh tied for 24th in 2019. Franklin (79-74-80) tied for 36th, Ponce (78-81-81) finished 43rd, Cecil 44th (77-80-86).
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Sacramento State (282-281-293) won the team title by 16 strokes over runner-up Montana State (290-286-296). Weber State (290-283-301) was third.
Â
The Hornets, who won their fifth title, have finished first or second at every Championship since 2014.
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Sacramento State's Caitlin Maurice (69-66-76) won the individual title by one stroke over Eastern Washington's Jaelin Ishikawa (69-70-73).
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