Griz head to Arizona for pair of tournaments

Championship month has arrived for the Montana women's golf team, which will prepare for the Big Sky Conference Championship with a pair of tournaments in Arizona over the next week.

The Grizzlies will compete at the two-day, 54-hole Wyoming Cowgirl Classic on Wednesday and Thursday, the three-day, 54-hole Bobcat Desert Classic next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Big Sky Championship will be held at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Ariz., Monday through Wednesday, April 15-17.

The Cowgirl Classic will open on Wednesday with 36 holes and conclude on Thursday with a final round at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa.

It's a tournament the Grizzlies know well. They've competed at the event every year it's been held since 2006-07, arriving on the calendar at the ideal time as a Big Sky warmup.

As usual, it will be an early preview of the Big Sky Championship with six league teams competing.

Then it will be off to the Bobcat Desert Classic at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, with one round each day, next Monday through Wednesday. Big Sky teams will again fill up a good chunk of the field.

"It's will be a good test to see where we're standing," said first-year coach Jimmy Mee, who will compete with the same lineup he's used at all three spring events so far.

Freshman Elle Higgins led Montana at the Bowling Green Intercollegiate, sophomore Hannah Ports at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational and sophomore Raina Ports at the Red Rocks Invitational.

Also competing will be fifth-year senior Tricia Joyce and redshirt freshman Kendall Hayward.

Joining the scoring five and competing as an individual at the next two tournaments will be freshman Kate Bogenschutz, who earned the spot through qualifying the last few weeks.

"It will be exciting to see her compete and get two more events under her belt," said Mee. "Hopefully everyone will play well, then we'll have to figure out who's going to conference."

An early spring allowed Montana to be outside more often than normal in March, though that alone would not have the Grizzlies prepared for the Big Sky Championship.

"We've been practicing outside but the conditions are so much different in Arizona," Mee said. "On this trip we'll be getting on the same type of grass as our conference tournament for eight days straight.

"Our greens are so much slower because everything is waking up. It's different to chip to a green speed that's 10 or 11 than to a green that's 6 or 7. Just getting that practice will be huge."

Over its last three trips to Southern Dunes, Montana has played only one round out of nine better than 310 on a course that is known for offering up some nasty winds.

The Grizzlies shot a second-round 327 last year.

"Southern Dunes is a pretty hard golf course if the wind kicks up like it usually does out there," said Mee. "Last year it was winds sustained at 30, gusts up to 50. Balls were rolling on the green.

"It's like, what are we even doing here. This is crazy."

Then it will be off to Estrella, another course that is forgiving off the tee and has large greens, which can leave some daunting putts if the wind plays with approach shots.

"Lag putting is going to be huge these next two events," said Mee. "We're hitting fairways and our irons just fine. If the wind picks up, you're going to end up with a lot of lag putts.

"That's where we're going to have to spend 99 percent of our time in the practice round, on speed control. If we can get it in that three-foot circle from 30, 40, 50 feet, then we're in business."

The Grizzlies will return to Montana after the Bobcat Desert Classic, be in town for only a few days, then head right back to Arizona for the Big Sky Championship.

"Once these April tournaments hit, it's boom, boom, boom. Where did the season even go?" said Mee.

Montana tied for 12th out of 14 teams at the Bowling Green Intercollegiate in mid-February, shooting rounds of 310, 321 and 321 to finish 100-over as a team.

The Grizzlies (323-309-309) were 77-over at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational in early March, 44-over at the Red Rocks Invitational (307-296-305) two weeks ago.

"Our first event, it was maybe 40 percent good, 60 percent bad, St. George maybe 50-50," said Mee. "In Sedona, we played pretty well. Eighty to 90 percent of the golf was really good.

"Cool to see that consistency get a little bit better, a little bit better. Hopefully we can make some strides at Southern Dunes, more strides at Goodyear, then be feeling good going into Big Sky."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Kendall Hayward

Elle Higgins

Tricia Joyce

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

University of Montana Athletics