The Montana women’s golf team will compete in two tournaments in Arizona over the next nine days, according to an April 6 announcement. These events come just weeks before the start of the Big Sky Conference Championship.
The team is scheduled to participate first in the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. The tournament will run for two days and include 54 holes, beginning Tuesday with 36 holes and concluding Wednesday with a final round of 18 holes. A total of 21 teams and more than 100 golfers are expected to take part.
Following this event, Montana will remain in Arizona for the Bobcat Desert Classic at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear. This tournament will take place from Monday through Wednesday next week and feature one round each day among a field of 13 teams, including seven from the Big Sky Conference.
Montana’s lineup for this week’s tournament includes Kate Bogenschutz, Bella Johnson, Raina Ports, Hannah Ports, and Katie Lewis. Salina Lui and Hope Torres are set to join their teammates over the weekend as individual competitors at the Bobcat Desert Classic. Coach Jimmy Mee said after their last competition at Red Rocks Invitational that “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.” Mee also commented on conditions: “Should be ideal conditions. The weather should be perfect for both tournaments, so a good way to get tuned up for conference.”
This marks Montana’s fifth consecutive year playing at Southern Dunes and its eleventh appearance since 2014 as part of pre-conference preparations. Several players have previous experience on this course: Raina Ports is making her fourth appearance while Hannah Ports and Bogenschutz return for their third time each.
Reflecting on course challenges at Southern Dunes, Mee said: “Big fairways and big greens that can be tricky… 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.” He added that calm weather makes scoring easier but windy conditions present difficulties.
Bogenschutz led Montana at Red Rocks with rounds of 74 and 73; she has recorded six sub-75 rounds during her collegiate career so far—two coming recently in Sedona—and Mee noted her performance by saying: “She didn’t play scared. She just went out and had fun… We want to see that progression going into conference, then hopefully we can put all the pieces together at the right time.” Lui and Torres have not competed since October but will rejoin as individuals next week; Mee commented: “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.” He also remarked about Estrella being suitable for Lui due to her long hitting ability.
The three-day Big Sky Championship is scheduled for April 20-22 at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park.
