Montana State University
Diane Thomason Invite
Becca Tschetter Wins in Iowa in Bobcat Debut
10/1/2024 4:40:00 PM | Women's Golf
Graduate transfer earns victory at Diane Thomason Invitational, Lauren Greeny finishes fourth as Montana State places third as a team
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Becca Tschetter was patient.
Due to NCAA rules, the graduate transfer from Grand Canyon had to sit out while her new team traveled to the first two tournaments of the fall in Utah and Idaho.
Setting aside the clubs to take on the role of supportive teammate, Tschetter traveled with the team to Idaho last week and got a front row seat to Lauren Greeny's individual win.
In her words, that lit a fire.
"I was fortunate enough to go to Idaho and watch Greeny win and that just really put the fire in me to be like we can do this," Tschetter said. "If she can do it, that empowers me to be able to believe in myself. It was one of things that was a mental hurdle that I had to get over of getting that win and knowing that I can."
Donning Bobcat colors for the first time this week, the native of Minot, North Dakota, didn't miss her chance to make an all-time opening impression.
Competing with new teammates at the Diane Thomason Invitational on Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Tschetter shot 219 (73-73-73) to defeat the rest of the field by three strokes and collect her first collegiate win.
"I feel like I was just in go-mode," Tschetter said. "I was practicing really hard. We were all super focused. I told Coach Lovell it was one of the best tournament preps that I've ever had before we left for Iowa."
163 days since her last collegiate tournament, when she finished a career-high second place with a 54-hole score of 220 at the 2024 WAC Championships in April, Tschetter one-upped herself with a 219 and a tournament win on Tuesday.
"It was awesome," head coach Brittany Basye said. "Not only did we know that Becca was going to come on and help our team immediately, but she's just a joy to be around. She's such a sweet, nice person—to get the win is just the icing on the cake. We didn't know and she didn't even know if she was going to come back and play this fifth year. It's almost like when Scarlet [Weidig] came to us in 2022, she went and won her first tournament as well. It's so surreal because both of them didn't know that they were even going to continue to play golf."
A stretch of three birdies in four holes on Tuesday from the 12th to the 15th holes helped the graduate student make a late surge to the top of the leaderboard, ending with three pars to secure the win.
"It felt so good just from the first tee," Tschetter said. "I got done with my first 18 holes and I looked at Joey [Lovell] and we were kind of slapping hands and he goes 'I'm so glad you're a Bobcat' and it just made me feel so good--like I'm here, we're here to make a wave, we're here to live out this last fifth year and get another chance at college golf."
Teammate Lauren Greeny, who shot a school-record 66 last Monday to earn her first career win at the Eagle Invitational in Idaho, followed up that performance by placing fourth overall in Iowa.
The reigning Big Sky Conference Co-Golfer of the Week shot a 7-over par 223 (73-73-77) to join Tschetter in the top-five.
Led by that duo at the top, Montana State finished third in a talented field of 15 teams, shooting 50-over par 916 (300-298-316) to place behind only Big Ten foes Iowa (906) and Wisconsin (912).
"We matched up really well with Wisconsin and Iowa," Basye said. "We didn't play our best golf, they might not have played their best golf, but we did what we had to do to take third, and that's what's huge. How we finished yesterday is a credit to each one of them, and then how we finished today—they might not have all shot the way they wanted to today, but if we shoot any higher we don't get third. It was a total team effort. You don't win with one player, it's a team effort. We made a statement. These girls went out and they competed—walking over 30 miles over the last few days carrying bags. I was so proud of them because they fought."
Going into the Bobcats' third tournament in three weeks, Basye and the Cats wanted to "make a statement."
"Like we talked about in our team meeting, getting to go to a Big Ten tournament is a privilege," Basye said. "Golf is unique in that we get to go to different locations and play against different conferences—we have not, in my years of coaching, been to a Big Ten tournament. I wanted us to go and make a statement, that Montana State can play some golf, and these girls did that."
Tschetter's win just one week after Greeny's victory is believed to be the first time in program history that Bobcats have won tournaments in consecutive tries.
"It's something I always dreamed of," Tschetter said. "I never believed it until I did these last few weeks. Just to grab it and have the 'Cats' across my chest and have these girls behind me and the coaches believing in us—the coaches are some of the most selfless people and believe in us more than we do, so it's really cool to play for a program that's like that. It's an honor to be playing for Montana State and it's an honor to grab this win."
UP NEXT
After playing three tournaments in the past three weeks, Montana State will take a short break before returning to action on October 14-15 at the Portland State Invitational in Portland, Oregon, to close out their fall.
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