PHOENIX, Ariz. — For the second consecutive season, the Rocky Mountain College men’s and women’s golf teams secured Frontier Conference championships behind individual victories from Kristjan Burkelca and Grace Metcalf at Papago Golf Course.
For the Rocky men, the win marks their second consecutive conference victory and their seventh team title since 2018. As for the Battlin’ Bear women, the win marks their fifth title in a row.
Men’s final results
Burkelca held onto his seven-stroke lead heading into the final round, winning his second consecutive conference title with an overall score of 4-under-par 212 (76, 65, 71). Finishing the competition with a field-high 14 birdies and a field-low eight bogeys, Burkelca won the competition by three strokes and ended nine strokes ahead of the leading non-Rocky golfer.
Freshman Sam Norman stood out in his first conference championship appearance, finishing second overall with a total score of 1-under-par 215 (69, 76, 70), totaling the best round of the day on Wednesday at 2-under-par 60, and also recorded the best score in Round 1 at 3-under-par 69.
Senior Aidan McDonagh finished tied for fourth overall with a score of 6-over-par 222 (72, 75, 75), while Nathan Piers followed tied for sixth overall with a score of 9-over-par 225 (70, 74, 81) to round out Rocky’s scorers, with Adam Hyde-Lay finishing tied for 25th overall with a score of 24-over-par 240 (77, 82, 81).
A complete team effort saw the Battlin’ Bears take the team title by 22 strokes over Bellevue University, totaling a team score of 10-over-par 874 (287, 290, 297). Rocky totaled the most birdies (41) and eagles (four) and tied for the most pars (159) as a team among the field.
Final team standings
- Rocky Mountain College (+10)
- Bellevue University (+32)
- Mayville State (+65)
- Dickinson State (+68)
- Montana Tech (+81)
- Carroll College (+90)
- Valley City State (+111)
- Providence (+119)
For complete men's results, click here.
Women’s final results
Metcalf, the defending individual champion, entered the third and final round trailing by two strokes individually but stormed ahead on Wednesday to win the conference championship tournament by three strokes as the only golfer on the women’s side to shoot sub-80 in Round 3. The senior finished with a final score of 23-over-par 239 (80, 81, 78), totaling 33 pars, the most of anyone in the field.
While Metcalf made a statement in the final round, a complete team effort saw the Rocky women turn in a dominating 30-stroke victory, as all five competing Battlin’ Bears finished inside the top 15 individually.
Tyla Potgieter (82, 83, 80) and Alivia Webinger (81, 82, 82) tied for fourth overall with scores of 29-over-par 245. Potgieter had the top scoring average on par 3s of the field (+4), while Webinger tied for the second-best scoring average on par 5s (+2).
Rounding out the Battlin’ Bear competitors were Catalina Garcia (85, 89, 84) and Kirsten Smith (83, 88, 87), who tied for 13th overall with total scores of 42-over-par 258.
The Rocky women took an 18-stroke lead after Round 1 and never let up, finishing with a 30-stroke victory to secure their fifth straight conference title.
Final team standings
- Rocky Mountain College (+120)
- Bellevue University (+150)
- Montana Tech (+162)
- Carroll College (+173)
- Dickinson State (+181)
- Mayville State (+466)
- Providence (+485)
- Valley City State (No Team Score)
For complete women's results, click here.
The Battlin’ Bears have earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships following their conference titles in Arizona. The NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships begin May 12 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., while the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships begin May 19 at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Mich.
