Bar-Or, Grizzlies hold 36-hole lead

The 36-hole leader of the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate opened her day with a double-bogey on Monday, playing the Missoula Country Club's par-5 18th, her first hole, to a score of 7 that had Montana freshman Zoe Bar-Or fuming.

That was bad news for the rest of the field.

After closing out her opening round with a 6-over 77, Bar-Or fired five birdies for her second 18 to card a 70 and give her a one-stroke lead heading into Tuesday's final round.

Portland State's Cynthia Ong (75-73) and Maddie Dustin (76-72) sit one stroke back.

"If Zoe does what Zoe does, she'll be fine," said Mee. "She doesn't need to do anything different, just go play her game and she'll be in contention to the end. It's going to be fun to see what she does."

Bar-Or tried a punch shot from beneath some trees for her third shot of the day, chunked it, sent her fourth shot over the green, chipped and two-putted to sit 2-over before the tournament was 15 minutes old.

"Sometimes I channel my bad shots into something positive," she said. "I play really well when I'm angry. I use it as momentum and motivation for the rest of the round. I got mad at myself, collected it a little bit and pulled it together."

Bar-Or is attempting to become Montana's first tournament champion since Jessica Ponce tied for first at the Grizzly Invitational at the Missoula Country Club in the fall of 2021.

She would be only the third freshman in program history with a tournament win, joining Tara Green (2011-12) and Jenny Chappell (1995-96).

"I didn't have the best first two tournaments of the season. They didn't go according to my plan, so I decided I was going to play a little more aggressive, pin-seeking, choosing more aggressive clubs, more aggressive lines and try to attack pins and go for birdies," she said.

"I think it worked out well. I play better when I'm more aggressive."

Bar-Or will tee from No. 1 on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., in the lead group with the top golfer from Portland State, Idaho State and Eastern Washington.

"Getting a good night's rest and having a lot of confidence," she said when asked about the keys for Tuesday. "I'm a very confident golfer. I have a lot of confidence in myself and in my game.

"I think people are going to go low tomorrow. People know the course well and the Day 2 pins should be a little bit easier. People will be going for pins. I think 70 to 72 will win it, and I think I can do it."

Bar-Or sparked Montana (308-295) to a five-stroke, 36-hole lead over Portland State (307-301). Idaho State (311-302) is another five strokes back, Eastern Washington (317-301) five more.

The Grizzlies' 295 on Monday afternoon was the team's best score in more than a year, since last September's Kalispel Invitational in Spokane.

"Overall, we're making fewer mistakes than we were making at the start of the season," said coach Jimmy Mee. "It's cleaner than it was two tournaments ago and hopefully tomorrow will be cleaner than it was today."

Montana's last tournament victory was the Grizzly Invitational at the Missoula Country Club in the fall of 2021.

Kate Bogenschutz (78-74) and Katie Lewis (76-76) are tied for fifth, Bella Johnson (81-75) is tied for 13th and Hope Torres (77-80) is tied for 15th in the 23-golfer field.

Ellie Sticha (84-81) is competing as an individual. She is in 23rd place.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Zoe Bar-Or

Kate Bogenschutz

Bella Johnson

Katie Lewis

Ellie Sticha

Hope Torres

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