Yellowjacket Women’s Golf 16th After First Round of Grand Canyon Invitational

First Round Results

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Montana State Billings women’s golf team currently sits in 16th place after the first round of the 2010 Grand Canyon Invitational at the par 72, 6,025-yard Palm Valley Golf Club.  The 36-hole event will conclude tomorrow.  MSUB fired an opening round score of 364.

Tarleton State (TX) leads the 17-team field with an impressive 298 team score and has a 16-stroke advantage over Sonoma State (314).  Host Grand Canyon sits in third with a 316 score, followed by Great Northwest Athletic Conference member, Saint Martin’s, and Cal State-Monterey Bay are tied for fourth with a 321 score.  Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference member, Western New Mexico, is tied for sixth with St. Edward’s with a 324 score.

The Yellowjackets lead Western New Mexico in the RMAC standings by six points heading into the conference championship tournament in Phoenix, Apr. 18-20.  WNMU is sixth in the latest NCAA Central Region Poll, while the Yellowjackets are ninth.

Individually, Tarleton State’s Carla Cooper leads the 85-player field with an impressive six-under 66.  Teammate Jacqueline Lau, Grand Canyon’s Brittany Anderson and WNMU’s Carissa Schwalm all are tied for second with a 76.  Central Oklahoma’s Erica Bensch is fifth with a 77.

The Yellowjackets and the rest of the field had to overcome extremely windy conditions Monday and are led by Amy Nordeen who is tied for 61st with an 88.  Elizabeth Tikriti is tied for 70th after firing a 91.  Libby Rutz is tied for 73rd with a 92, while Erin Heaney is tied for 77th with a 93 and Breanna Magness is tied for 79th with a 94.

The tournament features nine ranked teams and four others who are receiving votes in the latest Golfworld/NGCA poll.  Tarleton State is fifth, Cal State Monterey Bay is eighth, while Western Washington is ninth and St. Edward’s is 10th. Sonoma State is 13th, GCU is 17th, Central Oklahoma is 21st, while Northeastern State and West Texas A&M are tied for 25th.  St. Martin’s, Western New Mexico, Academy of Art and Chico State all are receiving votes.