Griz conclude opening day at Southern Dunes

The Montana women's golf team shot rounds of 312 and 308 on Tuesday as the 54-hole Wyoming Cowgirl Classic got underway at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.

The Grizzlies are in 18th place in a formidable 20-team field, highlighted by No. 22 Iowa State, which played Southern Dunes to scores of 277 and 286 and has the 36-hole lead by 13 strokes over BYU.

Kate Bogenschutz entered the tournament having shot rounds of 74 and 73 to close out the Red Rocks Invitational last month, Montana's most recent event.

The junior continued her steady play at Southern Dunes, carding scores of 76 and 75 on the 6,212-yard, par-72 course. Bogenschutz had three birdies and nothing worse than bogey through 36 holes.

"She had a lot of really good bunker saves and putted the best on the team," said coach Jimmy Mee. "She had some real critical five- to six-footers to stay in it at key times."

Raina Ports shot rounds of 74 and 78, with three birdies for her opening round, including back-to-back on Nos. 15 and 16.

Bella Johnson went 79-76, her second round featuring a stretch of three birdies over five holes, all coming on par-4s. She had a team-best five birdies on the day.

Hannah Ports carded scores of 84 and 79, Katie Lewis ended the day with rounds of 83 and 84.

"There was some real steady play," said Mee. "The biggest thing was our putting. We didn't finish holes as cleanly as we could have with some of the positions we put ourselves in.

"We threw most of our shots away on the putting green, just missing some close putts. We need to tighten that up. If we can make a few putts tomorrow from three to five feet, we'll be in business."

Bogenschutz is tied for 61st in the 116-golfer field. Raina Ports is tied for 67th, Johnson is tied for 80th, Hannah Ports is tied for 105th, Lewis is tied for 110th.

Iowa State (277-286) and BYU (285-291) are followed in the top five by New Mexico State (287-292), Big Sky Conference favorite Sacramento State (292-288) and UNLV (296-286).

Eleven players are under par through 36 holes, with Iowa State's Nichakorn Pinprayoon (65-69) at 10-under, Arizona State's Kate Dillon (68-67) at 9-under and NMSU's Emma Bunch (68-68) at 8-under.

The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Wednesday.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Bella Johnson

Katie Lewis

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

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