Photo by: Big Sky Conference
Bobcat Golf’s Delaney Elliott Reflects on Strong Senior Season
4/14/2020 3:57:00 PM | Women's Golf
Delaney Elliott was starting to pick up momentum this spring, but her senior year was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Delaney Elliott was starting to pick up momentum for the Montana State golf team.
The Bobcat senior had been MSU's top finisher in two consecutive events and placed among the top 10 individually in the team's final tournament appearance of the fall. Elliott and the Bobcats traveled to Kane'ohe, Hawaii, for the team's appearance at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational that ran from March 10-11. The Superior, Colo., native carded an even-par during the second round – tying her best 18-hole score of the season – and eventually finished in the top half of the individual standings with a 12-over 228 over three rounds of play in a field that featured three nationally-ranked teams.
"When we left Montana, it was obviously becoming a thing, but we weren't worried about it at the time," Elliott said of the coronavirus pandemic as they prepared to depart Bozeman. "We were just cautious at the airport and when we were in Hawaii we had a lot of fun. We had a few days where we just practiced in the morning, then had the rest of the day to experience Hawaii. I'm super grateful now that we got to at least go to there which is what we were really looking forward to doing and playing."
As the tournament progressed, Elliott said several of the competitors MSU was playing against were receiving notifications about schools moving to online courses. Yale, one of the schools participating in the event, found out the Ivy League had canceled the rest of its spring sports schedule while out on the course.
"We were talking in the car (after the final round) about that that could have been my last tournament ever," Elliott said. "We didn't know anything for sure, but we had an idea that this was going to get really bad before we know it.
"We had the afternoon and we were still on the beach waiting for our flight that night, just thinking we really need to get home. I was worried we'd get stuck there. But we got back and that's when everything started to turn. That's when it started to become a reality that that was probably the end."
Exactly one week following the end of the meet in Hawaii, the Big Sky Conference officially canceled the remainder of spring competitions and championships.
It signified the end to Elliott's best season as a Bobcat. Her scoring average of 76.43 strokes per round she registered over course of the 2019-20 season was the sixth best in program history. Despite not firing any headline-catching numbers, Elliott's reliable play had steadied the team in the five events they had played. In 14 rounds of golf, the Bobcat senior shot a team-best 13 rounds in the 70s.
"This fall, I had one tournament I wasn't very happy walking away from, but overall I feel like I was able to play well," Elliott said. "I didn't do anything super noteworthy, but I felt like I was contributing and a consistent player for the team which is what any team is looking for.
"Even in Hawaii, on a new course you never know what's going to happen, and to have an even par round is good. Even with the (two) 78s I wasn't playing my best, but I'd never been there so I was happy walking away through our two tournaments this spring."
The Bobcats had their biggest stretch of tournaments remaining on their schedule as their season culminated with the Big Sky Championship slated for April 20-22 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The NCAA announced on March 30 that its Division I Council voted to allow schools to provide spring sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.
That announcement provided a window of opportunity for Elliott to return during the 2020-21 academic year and play golf as a senior again. However, that would put her academic path she'd charted previously in a different direction. An elementary education major, Elliott is scheduled to student teach in the fall. Though Elliott said she thought it was great she had the option to return, playing golf and student teaching would be nearly impossible. It meant the senior realized her golf career wasn't going to end how she'd previously intended.
"I had a lot of momentum and felt really confident," Elliott said about her senior season. "It was just extremely devastating, it's still a fresh wound I feel like. I was prepared to be done with golf after conference and I'd been preparing for that since the year started.
"I knew since the beginning of college that I was going to be done golfing competitively after I was done at MSU. To just be done without even really knowing it – and not get to play in the last Big Sky tournament – especially with Kelly and Coral, who I'd been playing with my freshman year and talking about that experience together to do it one final time, not getting that was really sad."
Elliott's career ranks at MSU place her among the top five individually in scoring average. She holds MSU's lowest 18-hole round score of 67 and also carded a 68, the next best mark on the program's scoring chart. She has MSU's second-best tournament score ever of 7-under 209 and was a multiple time selection on the Big Sky's All-Academic Team.
Though her Bobcat career may not end in the way that she had planned, Elliott will be well regarded in the program for years to come.
"It's honestly been the best experience for me, Elliott said. "When I think of myself as a freshman, I've grown in so many different ways. I think like having my coach (Brittany Basye), the different assistants, having (seniors) Kelly (Hooper) and Coral (Schulz) with me the whole time, it's been an incredible experience."
The Bobcat senior had been MSU's top finisher in two consecutive events and placed among the top 10 individually in the team's final tournament appearance of the fall. Elliott and the Bobcats traveled to Kane'ohe, Hawaii, for the team's appearance at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational that ran from March 10-11. The Superior, Colo., native carded an even-par during the second round – tying her best 18-hole score of the season – and eventually finished in the top half of the individual standings with a 12-over 228 over three rounds of play in a field that featured three nationally-ranked teams.
"When we left Montana, it was obviously becoming a thing, but we weren't worried about it at the time," Elliott said of the coronavirus pandemic as they prepared to depart Bozeman. "We were just cautious at the airport and when we were in Hawaii we had a lot of fun. We had a few days where we just practiced in the morning, then had the rest of the day to experience Hawaii. I'm super grateful now that we got to at least go to there which is what we were really looking forward to doing and playing."
As the tournament progressed, Elliott said several of the competitors MSU was playing against were receiving notifications about schools moving to online courses. Yale, one of the schools participating in the event, found out the Ivy League had canceled the rest of its spring sports schedule while out on the course.
"We were talking in the car (after the final round) about that that could have been my last tournament ever," Elliott said. "We didn't know anything for sure, but we had an idea that this was going to get really bad before we know it.
"We had the afternoon and we were still on the beach waiting for our flight that night, just thinking we really need to get home. I was worried we'd get stuck there. But we got back and that's when everything started to turn. That's when it started to become a reality that that was probably the end."
Exactly one week following the end of the meet in Hawaii, the Big Sky Conference officially canceled the remainder of spring competitions and championships.
It signified the end to Elliott's best season as a Bobcat. Her scoring average of 76.43 strokes per round she registered over course of the 2019-20 season was the sixth best in program history. Despite not firing any headline-catching numbers, Elliott's reliable play had steadied the team in the five events they had played. In 14 rounds of golf, the Bobcat senior shot a team-best 13 rounds in the 70s.
"This fall, I had one tournament I wasn't very happy walking away from, but overall I feel like I was able to play well," Elliott said. "I didn't do anything super noteworthy, but I felt like I was contributing and a consistent player for the team which is what any team is looking for.
"Even in Hawaii, on a new course you never know what's going to happen, and to have an even par round is good. Even with the (two) 78s I wasn't playing my best, but I'd never been there so I was happy walking away through our two tournaments this spring."
The Bobcats had their biggest stretch of tournaments remaining on their schedule as their season culminated with the Big Sky Championship slated for April 20-22 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The NCAA announced on March 30 that its Division I Council voted to allow schools to provide spring sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.
That announcement provided a window of opportunity for Elliott to return during the 2020-21 academic year and play golf as a senior again. However, that would put her academic path she'd charted previously in a different direction. An elementary education major, Elliott is scheduled to student teach in the fall. Though Elliott said she thought it was great she had the option to return, playing golf and student teaching would be nearly impossible. It meant the senior realized her golf career wasn't going to end how she'd previously intended.
"I had a lot of momentum and felt really confident," Elliott said about her senior season. "It was just extremely devastating, it's still a fresh wound I feel like. I was prepared to be done with golf after conference and I'd been preparing for that since the year started.
"I knew since the beginning of college that I was going to be done golfing competitively after I was done at MSU. To just be done without even really knowing it – and not get to play in the last Big Sky tournament – especially with Kelly and Coral, who I'd been playing with my freshman year and talking about that experience together to do it one final time, not getting that was really sad."
Elliott's career ranks at MSU place her among the top five individually in scoring average. She holds MSU's lowest 18-hole round score of 67 and also carded a 68, the next best mark on the program's scoring chart. She has MSU's second-best tournament score ever of 7-under 209 and was a multiple time selection on the Big Sky's All-Academic Team.
Though her Bobcat career may not end in the way that she had planned, Elliott will be well regarded in the program for years to come.
"It's honestly been the best experience for me, Elliott said. "When I think of myself as a freshman, I've grown in so many different ways. I think like having my coach (Brittany Basye), the different assistants, having (seniors) Kelly (Hooper) and Coral (Schulz) with me the whole time, it's been an incredible experience."
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