Thursday, October 13, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – All five GNAC women’s golf teams took to the course once again for two rounds at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. The Western Washington Invitational served as the last opportunity for most teams to get reps in against conference competition before flying out to Hawaii for a pair of tournaments.

Western Washington was the highest GNAC finisher at its own tournament eight strokes off the leading pair of British Columbia and Dominican (Calif.) in third place. Vikings junior Claire Moon led all GNAC golfers in the tournament, finishing fourth. She carded a two-round score of 146, just one stroke off of a tie for second place.

Montana State Billings took the opportunity to get some extra time on the course prior to the WWU Invite, hosting the Yellowjacket Fall Invite on Oct. 3 and 4. The MSUB women took home second place in the tournament led by Brennan Larson, who finished in a three-way tie for fifth.

Most teams will be taking time off until the end of the month when they travel to Hawaii for the Southwest Airlines HPU Sharks Shootout on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 at the Pearl Country Club in Aiea before playing in the Southwest Airlines Dennis Rose Intercollegiate at the Hapuna Golf Course on the Kohala Coast on Oct. 28 and 29.

LAST WEEK’S TOURNAMENTS

Yellowjacket Fall Invitational (Oct. 3-4, at the Laurel Golf Club, Billings, Mont.) Team – 1, South Dakota Mines 634. 2, Montana State Billings 651. Individual – 1, Rianna Garland, South Dakota Mines, 154. T-5, Hannah Adams, Montana State Billings, 161. T-5, Brennan Larson, Montana State Billings, 161. T-10, Haylee Adams, Montana State Billings, 164. T-12, Adessa Lundberg, Montana State Billings, 165.

Western Washington Invitational (Oct. 10-11, at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club, Bellingham, Wash.) Team – T-1, Britsh Columbia 598. T-1, Dominican (Calif) 598. 3, Western Washington 606. 6, Simon Fraser 615. 12, Northwest Nazarene 647. 13, Saint Martin’s 653. 16, Montana State Billings 692. Individual – 1, Claire Shubin, Dominican (Calif.), 141. 4, Claire Moon, Western Washington, 146. T-9, Kassie Muanyam, Simom Fraser, 150. T-12, Megan Billeter, Western Washington, 151. T-12, Meera Minhas, Simon Fraser, 151.T-15, Elise Sumner, Western Washington, 152.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings opened the month of October by hosting the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational at the Lake Hills Golf Course in Billings. The two-day tournament took place on Oct. 3 and 4 with MSUB placing second with a score of 651, five strokes ahead of third-place Mary.

• The Yellowjackets were led by Hannah Adams and Brennan Larson, who were part of a three-way tie for fifth place with a two-day score of 161. Haylee Adams made it two Adams sisters in the top 10 with her 10th-place finish.

• At the WWU Invite on Monday and Tuesday, MSUB placed 16th with a score of 692. Hannah Adams led the Yellowjackets once again in a tie for 68th, carding a two-round score of 168. Haylee Adams tied for 77th with a score of 172.

• Montana State Billings will be back on the course one final time this fall in its annual match play tournaments with Rocky Mountain for the Leslie Spalding Cup. The event will take place across three days from Oct. 20-22 over three locations in Billings.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene finished in 12th place at the Western Washington Invitational with a two-round score of 647. The Nighthawks were six strokes ahead of GNAC rival Saint Martin’s in 13th and five strokes behind 11th-place Hawaii Hilo.

• Elle McCord was the lead golfer for NNU with a two-round score of 160 to finish in a tie for 41st. All four of the Nighthawks scoring golfers were covered by three strokes.

• Madison Gridley carded the lowest single-round score of the tournament for the Nighthawks with a 77 on the first day.

• Northwest Nazarene will have a week off before traveling to Aiea, Hawaii for the HPU Sharks Shootout on Oct. 25 and 26 ahead of the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate on the Big Island on Oct. 28 and 29.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s finished 13th at the WWU Invite with a score of 653, six strokes behind Northwest Nazarene.

• Kelsie Inouye was the highest-placing golfer for the Saints in a tie for 30th place. She carded a two-round score of 157 to go along with a team-best single-round score of 74 on the first day. Inouye leads the team with a 77.3 stroke average.

• Ashley Bruland and Kathyrn Crimp followed Inouye in a tie for 58th place with scores of 164.

Saint Martin’s will have a week off before returning to the course for the HPU Sharks Shootout and the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser earned a sixth-place finish in the Western Washington Invitational and was the second-highest-placing GNAC team in the tournament with a score of 615. They were nine strokes behind hosts Western Washington.

• The Red Leafs placed three of their scoring golfers in the top 20 with Kassie Muanyam leading the way in a three-way tie for ninth place. Muanyam carded a two-round score of 150. She was the second-highest-placing GNAC golfer in the tournament.

• Meera Minhas was one stroke back from Muanyam in a three-way tie for 12th place that included Western Washington’s Megan Billeter. Shirin Anjarwalla rounded out the top 20 scoring for SFU in a tie for 20th with teammate Natasha Kozlowski, who competed as an individual. Anjarwalla and Kozlowski carded two-round scores of 154.

• Like many teams, Simon Fraser will have the week off before heading out to Hawaii for the HPU Sharks Shootout on Oct. 25 and 26 followed by the Southwest Airlines Dennis Rose Intercollegiate on Oct. 28 and 29.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington was the top GNAC finisher in its own WWU Invite, placing third with a two-round score of 606. The Vikings were nine strokes ahead of their nearest conference rival, Simon Fraser, in sixth and four strokes ahead of fourth-place UBC Okanagan.

• Junior Claire Moon was the lead golfer for Western Washington with a final score of 146 in fourth place. She was the first of three Vikings in the top 15.

• Megan Billeter finished in a three-way tie for 12th place while Elise Sumner was just one stroke back from Billeter in a tie for 15th. Dani Bailey tied for 30th with a score of 157.

• Western Washington will have the week off to prepare before heading out to Hawaii for the HPU Sharks Shootout and Dennis Rose Intercollegiate.