Johnson leading Montana at Sun Mountain Intercollegiate

Bella Johnson shot rounds of 76 and 72 on Monday as the Montana women's golf team's lone home tournament of the year, the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate, opened at The Ranch Club in Missoula.

Johnson is tied for 11th in the 41-golfer field.

Johnson was one of Montana's top golfers last year as a freshman, finishing with a sub-79 scoring average, but she played five of her first six rounds this fall in the 80s, missing the cut to play at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational in Tacoma last week.

Monday she was back in top form. She had nothing worse than a bogey across 36 holes and carded three birdies. Her 72 in Monday's second round was one off her collegiate best.

"She was confident in herself today," said coach Jimmy Mee. "Technique doesn't change overnight but you can change your attitude overnight. She did that and rocked it today and played really well."

Montana shot rounds of 319 and 305 on Monday and is sitting sixth in the six-team field, 18 strokes behind fifth-place Idaho State.

"We didn't have any fun today. We looked scared. Maybe it was the pressure of having a home event, but it didn't look like anybody wanted to compete," said Mee.

"It looked like we were afraid of making a mistake, but mistakes are okay. That's golf. We did a better job of resetting on the second 18 and got a little more settled in and looked like we were having some fun. The scores weren't perfect but they were substantially better than the morning."

Johnson is competing as individual, meaning her scores were not able to be used in Montana's team total.

Kate Bogenschutz (78-73) is tied for 17th, Hannah Ports (75-78) is tied for 22nd, Raina Ports (80-79) is tied for 34th, Katie Lewis (86-75) is in 37th and Hope Torres (86-83) is in 40th.

Bogenschutz's 73 was her best collegiate round.

Anna Stensrud (82-78) and Salina Lui (84-79) also are competing as individuals. Stensrud is in 36th place, Lui is tied for 38th.

The tournament is positioned to have a dramatic final 18 holes on Tuesday. Weber State (294-296) is one stroke up on Portland State (294-297). Idaho (297-295) is one stroke behind Portland State.

Eastern Washington (304-302) and Idaho State (300-306) are tied for fourth.

Weber State's Emily Song (72-71) takes a one-stroke lead into Tuesday on Idaho's Zoe Newell (73-71) and Portland State's Payten Shimizu (74-70).

"If we go out tomorrow and freewheel it and have fun and be confident, we could shoot under par, but we have to get our heads right before tomorrow," said Mee.

"You can't lose a golf game overnight. You've put too many reps in. You have what you've got. What changes day-to-day is mentality and mindset. We've got to go out and have some fun."

University of Montana Athletics

Johnson leading Montana at Sun Mountain Intercollegiate

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Bella Johnson

Katie Lewis

Salina Lui

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

Anna Stensrud

Hope Torres

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