Griz in Arizona for pair of tournaments

The Montana women's golf team, just two weeks out from the start of the Big Sky Conference Championship, will compete in a pair of tournaments in Arizona over the next nine days.

The Grizzlies will compete this week at the two-day, 54-hole Wyoming Cowgirl Classic at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.

The tournament will open on Tuesday with 36 holes and will feature a full playing field of 21 teams and more than 100 golfers. The tournament will conclude with a round of 18 holes on Wednesday.

Montana will remain in Arizona and compete next Monday through Wednesday at the Bobcat Desert Classic at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz., with one round each day.

The Bobcat Desert Classic is scheduled to have 13 teams competing, seven from the Big Sky.

Montana will play this week with a lineup of Kate Bogenschutz (1), Bella Johnson (2), Raina Ports (3), Hannah Ports (4) and Katie Lewis (5).

Salina Lui and Hope Torres will join their teammates over the weekend and compete in the Bobcat Desert Classic as individuals.

Montana last competed at the Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Ariz., in mid-March, where the Grizzlies shot rounds of 312, 304 and 310 to finish seventh out of 11 teams.

"We had a little momentum coming out of Sedona. Hopefully we can build on that and try to get some rounds where we get four really good scores together," said coach Jimmy Mee.

"Should be ideal conditions. The weather should be perfect for both tournaments, so a good way to get tuned up for conference."

This will be the fifth consecutive year that Montana has played at Southern Dunes and the 11th time since 2014 that the Grizzlies have used the tournament as an early-April, pre-Big Sky warm-up.

Raina Ports will be playing the tournament for the fourth time, Hannah Ports and Bogenschutz for the third time.

"Big fairways and big greens that can be tricky," Mee said of Southern Dunes. "The wild card is what the wind does. It can blow 40 out there in the blink of an eye. That's what makes it challenging.

"When it's calm, you can score well. It's not hard to hit the fairway. If the wind doesn't blow, it's very scoreable."

Bogenschutz led Montana at Red Rocks, closing with rounds of 74 and 73 to tie for 33rd overall. The junior has shot six sub-75 rounds in her collegiate career. Two of those came in Sedona.

"She didn't play scared. She just went out and had fun," said Mee. "We want to see that progression going into conference, then hopefully we can put all the pieces together at the right time."

Montana's practice round for the Bobcat Desert Classic will be on Sunday. That's when Lui and Torres will join the team to compete as individuals.

Lui and Torres have not competed for Montana since the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate in Missoula in early October. Lui closed that tournament with a 1-over 73.

"It will be nice to get some players who haven't had tournament experience this spring in the lineup and see what they do in tournament conditions," said Mee.

"Estrella should set up pretty good for Salina. She hits it long and her putting has gotten so much better, even from spring break until now."

The three-day Big Sky Championship will be held at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Ariz., from April 20-22.

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Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Bella Johnson

Katie Lewis

Salina Lui

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

Hope Torres

University of Montana Athletics