Ports shoots 71, Griz sitting sixth in Goodyear

Raina Ports shot a 1-under 71 and the Montana women's golf team shot a 300 on Tuesday as the Bobcat Desert Classic continued at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz.

Ports, who carded a 72 on Monday, is in seventh place in the 60-player field at 1-under through 36 holes. She is in position to challenge for her fourth collegiate top-10 finish.

Ports was 1-over on Tuesday through 11 holes but birdied Nos. 12 and 14, then closed her round with four straight pars to post her sixth collegiate round of 71 or better.

Ports has played the course's four par-3's to a score of 4-under through two rounds, the best performance on those holes in the tournament field.

"Raina played super steady again," said coach Jimmy Mee. "She didn't make as many birdies as she did on Monday but she avoided the bigger numbers, which is good to see.

"She is just solid. Hits every fairway, hits the green and she's a good putter. It's a good combination."

Bella Johnson shot a 74, Elle Higgins a 75. After starting her day bogey-bogey, Higgins, who shot a 71 on Monday, played the next six holes at 4-under. She is tied for 10th at 2-over through two days.

"She hits iron shots super close, she's putting pretty well right now, which is huge, and she is driving the ball pretty straight. She's playing solid," said Mee.

Kylie Franklin shot an 80, Hannah Ports an 81 on Tuesday.

The Grizzlies opened the tournament on Monday with a team score of 297. It's Montana's best back-to-back rounds since September but still has the Grizzlies trailing five teams, three from the Big Sky.

Weber State (288-289) is atop the leaderboard by a single stroke over both Idaho (286-292) and Montana State (291-287).

"We had three pretty solid scores. We didn't quite get the four that we need to be competitive, but we're showing the potential is there," said Mee.

"We didn't finish the way we wanted to today. We had some three-putts and other stuff coming down the stretch, but I like that we're trending in the right direction."

The secondary story of the tournament has been the play of Kate Bogenschutz, who is competing as an individual and has shot rounds of 77 and 74. She is tied for 29th.

She entered the tournament with a season stroke average of 82.4 and opened Monday's round with two bogeys and a double-bogey through her first six holes but has been on top of her game ever since.

She played Monday's final 12 holes at 2-over, then matched her best collegiate round with a 74 on Tuesday.

"I kind of had a feeling yesterday that she had turned the corner," said Mee. "She looked more free and wasn't over-analyzing everything. She just picked her target and hit her shot.

"She's playing a lot more like she would if she was out playing with her dad. She's getting out of her own way. She's seeing what's in front of her and just playing golf."

Idaho's Zoe Newell (66-71) leads the tournament. Montana State's Lauren Greeny (67-73), Weber State's Jade Gruher (69-71) and Idaho's Emma Kang (70-70) are tied for second, three strokes back.

The tournament concludes on Wednesday with a final round of 18 holes.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Kylie Franklin

Elle Higgins

Bella Johnson

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

Related Videos