Montana State finished the opening round of the Big Sky Women’s Golf Championship tied for second place on Apr. 20, with three team members placing in the top ten individually.
The performance puts Montana State in a strong position as they trail Northern Arizona by only two strokes going into the next round. This result is significant as it gives the team an opportunity to compete for a top spot in the championship.
Norah Seidl led Montana State with a score of 3-under 68, tying her for second place individually. Eva Heinz followed closely with a 1-under 70, tying for sixth, while Lauren Greeny posted an even-par 71 to tie for tenth. The team’s overall score was even-par at 284. Head coach Brittany Basye said, “It was a pretty decent first round. Norah played well. We had some really good looks at birdies and missed a couple putts and left a few shots out there, but for the first round we will take it. Even par set us up for an opportunity tomorrow to be in the final pairing, and that’s all we can ask for so, we’re going to go out, have a game plan, stick to our game plan, and go see what it brings us. We’re going to keep being gritty. We had a couple missed putts, but we gave ourselves some very good opportunities. Norah had a very nice round, Eva had it going, and Greeny’s eagle gave us some momentum towards the end. We need to keep our grittiness and keep fighting.”
Other contributors included Maddie Montoya who shot a 75 and Ashleigh Wilson who carded a 76. The team’s play featured highlights such as Seidl’s bogey-free front nine and eagle on hole five; Heinz’s four birdies; Greeny’s eagle on hole fourteen; Montoya’s strong finish with six consecutive pars; and Wilson’s bogey-free stretch from holes three through seven.
Northern Arizona leads after day one with a score of two-under-par (282), while Montana State shares second place with Northern Colorado (both at 284). Sacramento State (289) and Idaho State (290) complete the top five teams after one round.
Sophia Lee from Sacramento State tops the individual leaderboard at four-under-par (67), followed by Seidl and Nina Lukyanenko from Northern Arizona at three-under (68). Andrea Chin of Idaho State and Samantha Colombine of Northern Colorado are also among the leaders heading into Tuesday’s play.
Montana State will continue tournament play paired with Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona during Tuesday’s second round.
