Griz open play in Tacoma

The Montana women's golf team opened play at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational on Monday with scores of 326 and 318 as the 54-hole tournament opened at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club in Washington.

The Grizzlies are sitting 15th out of 15 teams.

"We started on the hardest stretch of holes on the course, so right off the bat, you can hit some shots that are okay but you get penalized for it," said coach Jimmy Mee. "We got off to a rough start, then our confidence took a hit. From there, golf will kind of beat you up.

"It was a good learning experience on whether it's going well or not, you still need to approach every shot like it's going to be the best shot that you've ever hit."

Kate Bogenschutz had only one birdie over Monday's 36 holes, but she was Montana's lone player to not card anything worse than a bogey. She shot rounds of 78 and 79 and is tied for 63rd in the 84-player field.

"She's getting more solid each tournament," said Mee. "She drove the ball really well today. She didn't make a lot of putts but she hit a lot of really good putts that had chances to go in.

"Hopefully tomorrow she'll have the same confidence with her irons that she has with the driver. I think she's due for a really good one."

Raina Ports (81-77) is tied for 67th, Katie Lewis (82-82), who had a team-best four birdies, is in 78th, Hope Torres (88-80) is in 80th and Salina Lui (85-86) is in 83rd.

Gonzaga (291-280) and Santa Clara (288-286) are both under par through 36 holes, with British Columbia (290-293) sitting in third place.

Seven players are under par, led by Santa Clara's Audrey Brust (70-70). Four more players are at even par.

The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Tuesday.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Katie Lewis

Salina Lui

Raina Ports

Hope Torres

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