Griz return to action at Red Rocks Invitational

The Montana women's golf team will return to action this weekend when the Grizzlies compete at the three-day Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Ariz.

The tournament will be played at the Oakcreek Country Club, with 18 holes on both Friday and Saturday, with 1 p.m. local starts, and a final 18 holes on Sunday, with an 8:15 a.m. local start.

It's a tournament and a course Montana knows well, having played in it every spring it's been held since 2018 with some impressive individual performances.

Baylee Barckley tied for eighth in 2018. Last spring Raina Ports tied for fourth with rounds of 71, 70 and 75.

"Off the tee, you have to put yourself in position," said coach Jimmy Mee. "It's tree-lined, not scary tight but you can get out of position if you hit a bad shot.

"The courses that are a little more demanding off the tee, we play better because our girls hit it straight. It's a tee-shot golf course."

Mee will have a scoring five-some of Elle Higgins, Raina Ports, Hannah Ports, Kate Bogenschutz and Kendall Hayward. Bella Johnson will compete as an individual.

Raina Ports and Higgins have been Montana's low scorer at all five tournaments this year, dating back to the fall. Higgins has a season scoring average of 75.75, Ports an average of 76.17.

Only three times in program history has a Griz golfer finished a full season with a scoring average better than 76.

Montana opened its spring season more than a month ago, at the Bowling Green Intercollegiate at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Ariz., site of next month's Big Sky Conference Championship.

Montana shot rounds of 320, 314 and 309 to finish 11th out of 14 teams. Higgins tied for 15th with rounds of 75, 80 and 74. All five golfers who competed had at least one round in the 80s.

"Wigwam was tough," said Mee. "We were rusty, then we jumped into 30-mile-per-hour winds. That's going to frazzle you even if you've been playing in those conditions all year."

Montana's opening-round score of 320 was its highest of the year before the Grizzlies improved over the tournament's second and third rounds.

"We need to avoid stringing four bogeys together," Mee said. "Can we make it two? One? Nobody is going to go bogey-free. The better teams are the ones who take the bogey and move on.

"We're starting to understand that it doesn't have to be perfect. You can still go out and play just fine. Once you embrace that, it's easier to hit it well once you're not worried about hitting it bad."

Montana will get a practice round on Thursday at Oakcreek before opening play on Friday afternoon.

"The practice round is to develop a plan both physically and mentally. Then we have to have the discipline to stick with it," said assistant coach Jeff Allen.

Most of Montana's players will remain in Arizona next week during UM's spring break. The Grizzlies' final three tournaments of the season also will be played in Arizona.

The Cowgirl Classic will take place April 2-3, the Bobcat Desert Classic April 7-9 and the Big Sky Championship April 14-16.

Montana will remain in Arizona between the Cowgirl Classic and Bobcat Desert Classic.

"The players are pretty much staying in Arizona (next week) and will be able to play a bunch of golf. By the time they return, we should be able to get outside in Missoula," said Mee.

"We'll stay down there between the Wyoming and MSU events. It will be nice to play in the same environment that we'll be playing the conference championship."

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Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Kendall Hayward

Elle Higgins

Bella Johnson

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

University of Montana Athletics