The Montana State women’s golf team will participate in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in ‘Aiea, Hawaii, beginning Tuesday, Mar. 15 and continuing through Wednesday.
The tournament is significant as it marks the Bobcats’ third event of the spring season and provides an opportunity for the team to compete against a strong field that includes nationally ranked programs and fellow Big Sky Conference members.
The 54-hole event will take place at the Pearl at Kalauao course, with two rounds scheduled for Tuesday and a final round on Wednesday. Both days will begin with a shotgun start at noon Mountain Time. Head coach Brittany Basye said, “This is a good field on a new golf course. The conditions will be wet this week, but we need to fight through that and focus on one shot at a time. We have had three great weeks of indoor practice, working hard on carry yardages and seeing putts go in over and over. With these wet conditions it will level the playing field some, and with the grittiness of our players, I am hoping that plays to our favor. The ‘no-quit’ attitude will need to be strong, as will the ‘be where your feet are’ discipline. Anyone we are competing is an opportunity for us to keeping working toward our team goals. We will celebrate the little wins we have throughout the season no matter the weather. Excited to see how these ladies bring their best to the rest of spring season. It’s time to compete no matter the circumstances.”
Thirteen teams are set to compete in this year’s invitational, including No. 2 University of Southern California (USC), No. 13 North Carolina, No. 23 Arizona State, as well as Northern Colorado and Sacramento State from the Big Sky Conference.
Montana State returns after nearly a month away from competition; their last appearance was at the Texas Golf Throwdown in February where Norah Seidl earned Big Sky Women’s Golfer of the Week honors by finishing tied for fourth individually.
Seven Bobcats are slated to play in Hawaii: Lauren Greeny (No. 1 spot), Norah Seidl (No. 2), Eva Heinz, Maddie Montoya, Ashleigh Wilson (third through fifth spots), while Sailor Graham and Lauren Nau will compete as individuals.
This marks Montana State’s second consecutive appearance at this tournament; last year they finished fifteenth out of seventeen teams with Greeny leading individual scores for her team.
