Griz open strong at Big Sky Championship

The Montana women's golf team shot a 295 on Monday and that strong start has the Grizzlies sitting in third place after 18 holes at the Big Sky Conference Championship, being contested at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Ariz.

Montana trails two-time defending champion Sacramento State (282) and Montana State (287), with Northern Arizona (297) and Idaho (298) rounding out the top five.

Raina Ports shot a 1-under 70, tied for Montana's second-best round ever at the Big Sky Championship. She is tied for fourth, one of five players to break par on Monday.

Elle Higgins, who opened last year's Championship with a 68, shot an even-par 71. She is tied for sixth.

"We put ourselves in the mix," said coach Jimmy Mee. "Raina was solid the whole time, Elle was pretty solid the whole time. Everybody had moments of really solid play and some really good stretches."

Kate Bogenschutz (76), playing at her first Big Sky Championship, is tied for 29th, freshman Bella Johnson (78) is tied for 36th.

Montana's score of 295 is tied for the Grizzlies' third-best score ever posted at the Championship.

"We made some silly mistakes but if you make enough birdies, it kind of offsets some of those mistakes," said Mee, whose team had 14 birdies on Monday, tied for second-most in the field.

"If we can clean up some of the simple stuff tomorrow, we should be in a really fun spot the next couple days."

Ports shot rounds of 72, 71 and 74 last week to finish 10th at the Bobcat Desert Classic and kept it up at Wigwam on Monday. Her 70 matches her best collegiate round.

"She's been hitting it so well, which she always does. She makes the right decisions and keeps herself in the right positions," said Mee. "When you do that, you set yourself up for success."

Higgins had three bogeys through the day's first eight holes, then played her final 10 holes at 1-under, her 71 matching the 71 she shot last week in the opening round of the Bobcat Desert Classic.

Bogenschutz had a team-high four birdies. Only one player in the 50-golfer field had more.

Hannah Ports shot an 11-over 82. She was 12-over after a triple-bogey on the par-4 12th before playing the final six holes at 1-under.

"That's what we've been trying to work on," said Mee. "Even if things go sideways, can we keep it together? Can we stay solid, can we stay in the moment?

"She did a good job of holding it together and not letting her emotions get the best of her to where she could get a little momentum going into tomorrow."

Montana, behind Higgins' 68, opened last year's Championship with a 293, good for a third-place tie. The Grizzlies were in fifth place after 36 holes and ended up in seventh after 54.

"This is a crew that has more experience at the conference tournament now," said Mee. "We're a year older, a year better.

"There are some holes where you have to think your way through them. I think we learned that last year on this course."

Sacramento State's Darla May Dela Torre, who shot a 68, holds the 18-hole lead. Montana State's Scarlet Weidig and Eastern Washington's Gabriella Ilardi both carded a 2-under 69.

Ports is tied with Montana State's Maddie Montoya at 1-under.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Elle Higgins

Bella Johnson

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

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