BOZEMAN — The Montana State women’s golf team earned its first team tournament win in 23 years with a dominant performance at the Yellowstone Intercollegiate, carding a school-record 16-under 848 to earn a 15-stroke victory at Riverside Country Club on Tuesday.
The Bobcats posted their best round of the tournament with a 7-under performance in the third round and finished play with round scores of 282-285-281. Montana State took home its ninth tournament victory in program history while Cal State Northridge earned runner-up honors at 1-under 863.
Gonzaga placed third at 12-over 876, and California Baptist and North Dakota State tied for fourth (19-over 883) to round out the top five teams on the leaderboard.
“Wow, what an unbelievable couple of days,” MSU coach Brittany Basye said. “This team is special and surrounded by special people who believe in them. The amount of support we had this week was awesome. I am so proud to be a Bobcat.”
Eva Heinz took home her first career individual tournament victory, carding a 9-under 207 to finish within two strokes of tying the program low 54-hole score. The junior, who broke the Montana State and Big Sky Conference record for low-18 score in yesterday’s opening round, led a group of five Bobcats who finished in the top 10.
Norah Seidl tied for third (3-under 213), Sailor Graham (2-under 214) finished fifth while competing individually in her first collegiate tournament, Maddie Montoya earned a share of sixth place at 1-under 215, and Ashleigh Wilson tied for eighth with an even-par 216.
“Eva's win was incredible, and she earned every bit of that win,” Basye added. “The team win tops it all. Not only did they show up — they showed up and kicked butt. I am so proud of all of them. They gave it their all and competed until the last putt.”
Seidl posted Montana State’s lowest score in the final round with a 4-under 68, finishing bogey-free with four birdies on the back nine to climb 10 places on the final day of competition. The Bobcats also counted a 70 from Wilson, a 71 from Lauren Greeny, and an even-par 72 by Heinz.
Wilson carded four birdies, Greeny added three, and Heinz posted two, with each Bobcat only bogeying twice. Greeny finished the tournament with a score of 2-over 218 to tie for 13th.
Individually, Graham carded a 75 in the final round while Lauren Nau posted a 79 on Tuesday to finish the tournament with a 54-hole score of 224 to tie for 27th place.
Heinz sealed her five-stroke individual victory, becoming MSU’s 25th medalist all-time, with a score of 207 as California Baptist’s Samantha Dizon (212), Seidl (213), CSUN’s Kim Turgut (213), and Graham (214) rounded out the top five finishers in Bozeman.
The Yellowstone Intercollegiate marked the Bobcats’ first tournament in Bozeman since 2012 and Basye’s third team victory at Montana State. She hopes that the tournament at Riverside Country Club will become a regular opportunity for fans to support the Bobcats at home.
“It’s extra special winning at home in front of your fans,” Basye said. “Coach Joey [Lovell] and I want to keep the Yellowstone Intercollegiate at home for many years to come. It was a group effort all around from the behind the scenes to the players getting it done on the course.”
The Bobcats will travel to Spokane, Wash., on Sept. 22-23 to compete in the Kalispel Invitational at Kalispel Golf and Country Club. The tournament will mark the Bobcats’ third competition of five on the fall schedule.
