Bobcat Golf Enters Winter Break With Plenty of Momentum
11/3/2023 7:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
MSU's five fall tournaments proved to be a record-breaking stretch for a young, talented program
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- After a runner-up finish at the Big Sky Championships last spring, expectations were high for the Montana State women's golf team entering this September, with four of the team's top five finishers at that conference championship joined by three talented freshmen.
What followed was a fall of broken records for the Bobcats, who now close the book on the first half of their season to begin a winter hiatus that will end when they return to the tee box in February.
Led by the play of standouts Scarlet Weidig, Lauren Greeny, Maddie Montoya, and Eva Heinz, MSU twice broke the program record for 18-hole team scoring mark, first with a 10-under, 278, on the final day of the Timpanogos Collegiate Classic on September 12, then again just two weeks later with a 12-under, 276, at the Big Sky '54 for IX' Tournament on September 25.
"The expectations of knowing that we can do it were satisfied, because shooting 10-under in a round and asking ourselves, is that a reality? Can we actually do this? And the very next week, at a tougher golf course with a stronger field, we shoot 12-under," assistant coach Joey Lovell said. "We know we can meet those expectations, but now can we do it for three rounds in one tournament? And if we can do that, I think we get looked at a little bit differently in the Big Sky."
At the five tournaments the Bobcats played this fall, they matched or broke what had been the existing 54-hole tournament score of 882 on three occasions. Montana State shot a matching 882 at the season-opening Timpanogos tournament, shattered the record with an 869 at the Big Sky '54 for IX', then turned in an 880 to close the season at The Clash at Boulder Creek.
"I would say a big plus for me with this team is the depth of how low we can go if everyone is on," head coach Brittany Basye said. "Meaning, if we have four players having a good day, we are going to be right around even par as a team or under. We are also a young team, so those two things right there excite me."
Individually, redshirt junior Scarlet Weidig added on to her already stellar career accolades with an individual tournament win at the Big Sky showcase tournament in Saratoga Springs, Utah, the fourth win of her career to move her one behind Jen McGregor (1993-97) for most all-time.
Weidig turned in a record-breaking 54-hole score of 9-under-par 207 (67-69-71) to take home the trophy competing against every other Big Sky conference program while leading Montana State to a third-place team finish.
Her round of 67 in the opening 18 holes matched the program record and marked one of three occasions that 67 was achieved by a Bobcat this fall, joining Lauren Greeny's two rounds of 5-under 67 on September 12 and October 23.
Greeny, a sophomore from Pullman, Wash., has now shot 67 three times in her career, making up half of the total of six times that score has been recorded in program history.
Through five tournaments, Greeny and Weidig are tied for the team lead in stroke average at 74.20.
The youth movement for MSU also continued this fall, with Heinz and Boraas each shooting a 4-under 68. Those two now count themselves among the eight Bobcats in program history to ever shoot a 68 or better in a tournament round.
Montoya, a sophomore from Boise, Idaho, was consistent in the lineup for the Bobcats, shooting a 74 or better in 9 of 14 rounds and averaging 74.42 for her stroke average this fall.
The depth at the top of head coach Brittany Basye's lineup was on full display in the first round of the Big Sky tournament in Saratoga Springs, as four Bobcats finished below par, another program record. Weidig shot a 67, Greeny a 69, and Montoya and Heinz both turned in a 70 across an unforgettable afternoon.
"You always wonder how the fall will be coming off of such a good spring with our finish at the Big Sky Championships, but no doubt at all that we will continue to get better," Basye said. "With all that being said, we need to focus on the positives, improve on those and learn from our negatives. These players are gritty and will keep working hard to get those low numbers. This will be a good break for a couple months, then we will be ready to hit it hard mid-January. We're excited for the future of Bobcat Golf."
Montana State returns to action on February 12-14 for Mountain Match Play, held at Classic Club in Palm Desert, California.
The Big Sky Championships are scheduled for April 15-17.
"For the spring, it's continuing to work on that short game, but then also believing in each other to know that we can get the job done," Lovell said. "Can we learn each week heading up to conference to be able to take down Sacramento State, NAU, Idaho, Weber State? Those are who we're looking at as our teams. Not that the other teams can't be good because Montana beat us this year as well, but we know who's leading the Big Sky and who we're going after."
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